76% Of Women Felt Uncomfortable Exercising In Public | Myprotein Staff Survey Results
Last year a study conducted by Women’s Running found that 69% of women do not feel safe or adjust their behaviour when running in public. Of the women surveyed, 79% said they have been shouted at while on a run and 31% have considered stopping running altogether due to feeling unsafe.1
While the sad truth is it’s not uncommon to hear statistics like this, it’s important to raise awareness of the issues women face. We wanted to hear the experiences of women exercising in public spaces and the gym, so we conducted our own survey of Myprotein staff to learn more on the experience of friends and colleagues. The results were eye-opening.
76% of women surveyed have felt like they’ve been stared at while exercising in public spaces
Non-physical and non-verbal harassment can be harmful to confidence and mental health as well as being highly intimidating. But unfortunately it’s a common occurrence, with the majority of women in our survey saying they have been stared at while exercising.
76% of women surveyed have felt uncomfortable when exercising in public spaces
Staring is just one of the behaviours women face when in the gym and exercising in public spaces. Sometimes these initially uncomfortable situations escalate to verbal or physical forms of harassment. Here are a few of the experiences reported in our survey.
63% of women surveyed have changed their behaviour depending on who was in the gym
Our survey highlighted many considerations women feel they have to make in order to feel safer and more comfortable when working out. Much of the time these are considerations men never have to give any thought.
Avoiding peak times was a common response. But this is difficult as many people have busy schedules.
Clothing was another commonly cited anxiety.
And planning leg days at quieter times. This gym-goer highlights how certain sections of the gym are still dominated by men — making it more intimidating for a lot of women, especially beginners.
44% have cut a workout short due to unwanted attention
Much like the 31% of runners who had considered stopping running altogether, many women in our survey have cut a workout short because other gym-goers have made them feel uncomfortable.
Cat-calling is something that too many view as harmless, but women on the end of it find it incredibly intimidating. Several of the women we surveyed said they’ve experienced it.
Sometimes behaviours like cat-calling can lead to more physical forms of harassment and intimidation too.
46% have felt unsafe when exercising in public spaces
Given the tragic events of the past few years, it’s understandable that many women are feeling increasingly unsafe when exercising in public.
Only 11% of women feel “very confident” exercising alone in public, while 25% felt “fairly unconfident”
While it’s brilliant that 50% of women in our survey said they were “fairly confident” exercising alone in public, there were still 36% who said they were either “very unconfident” or “fairly unconfident”. So, what can be done to make women feel more comfortable in the gym and other public exercise spaces? Here are some of the suggestions we received in our survey.
Education within the gym was a big one for our survey participants. Confidence comes with knowing what you’re doing in the gym, which can take time.
But education outside of the gym is important, too, helping people to understand what behaviour is and isn’t acceptable.
Importance of clothing
Clothing that makes you feel confident also proved important to those who completed the survey.
This feedback affirms our own goals as a brand. MP has committed over recent years to developing greater ranges in size and using a diverse pool of modelling talent.
Here's what the MP team said when we asked what their vision is to create more inclusive clothing:
Take home message
Hopefully the results of this survey have highlighted many of the issues women experience and the considerations they have to make just to get a workout in. Education around these topics is constantly improving though, and as long as we’re prepared to listen to women, committed to change and prepared to address behaviours, there’s hope for a better future.
And if you need some advice to help foster a more confident mindset, one participant put it best...
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