Personal trainer horrified by gendered barbells with women given smaller weights

22 August 2023 , 15:42

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Elle Sampiere was shocked after seeing lighter weights labelled 'for women' at (Image: Elle Sampiere / SWNS)

Elle Sampiere, 23, was working out at a gym in Lacanau, France, when she noticed that light weights were labelled for women and heavier weights for men.

Elle, a fitness influencer and pro surfer, had never seen barbells labelled before and was "surprised" to see the words "women" and "men" painted on the wall.

The athlete and influencer from Solana Beach, California, USA, said: "I'm not a super strong feminist or was offended in any way by this. I was more just surprised that that was still on the wall here in France."

"I was raised in a gym environment where we were not supposed to call it the girl bar. I know that they make 20kg barbells, and I know that they make 15kg barbells, and I know why they do that. However, I've never seen it labelled as like, women and men, it could have been really sensitive for some people."

Elle posted the video on TikTok and some social media users pointed that this was common practice in the weightlifting world. Elle responded to the criticism by explaining that she knew this but was shocked that it was literally labelled by gender in the modern era.

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Elle has nearly 200,000 followers on TikTok and is conscious of the people who follow her and the example she feels she needs to set. She said: "My point was more like, if you're gonna label the bars, just label it 20 and 15. Ever since I have gained this responsibility of, you know, being an 'influencer' and like inspiring young girls to either go to the gym or go surfing."

Elle Sampiere, 23, a professional surfer and fitness influencer, had a few opinions to share on France's gym system, but users online had even more to say (Elle Sampiere / SWNS)

15kg barbells labelled as ‘women’s’ at French gym in Lacanau - to which Elle says, 'They clearly didn't get the memo' (Elle Sampiere / SWNS)

"So when they messaged me and they're nervous to go to the gym or they don't have the confidence and they're saying that I inspired them to go there, I think about them and what they might think when they go to the gym and they see something like that."

Although Elle is a professional who knows what she's talking about - her comments are full of people there to 'clarify' that this is standard practice. Most of the comments were from men - correcting her. A few other men were outright rude. One wrote: "Lift it then broooo" to which the athlete responded, "Always do Nathan. Always."

Elle Sampiere was shocked after seeing lighter weights labelled 'for women' at a French gym, and now her comments are full of men telling a professional athlete that she probably couldn't life that 20kg bar (Elle Sampiere / SWNS)

A few women commented with the argument that the bar is thinner on the smaller weights, making them easier to hold. But Elle brought up a really good point when responding to people - "I’m just saying just put 20kg and 15kg. Not women and men. And if we need thinner bars - make them the same weight and thinner bar on one."

One user wrote: "This is the standard for comp lifting… sounds like YOU didn’t get the memo." But Elle quipped back, standing by her original message, "Sounds like you missed the point."

Yelena Mandenberg