Height and limb length differs between men and women, but no finite rules apply. Many women are taller with longer limbs than men. In skeletal studies, the differences are quite minimal. One machine with fixed pivot points will not suit every body. If a machine is too small, it cannot become bigger, but if a machine is too large, additional pads and adjustments can effectively accommodate a smaller frame.
History of Women's Exercise
Until the 1950s, women's exercise salons were rare and equipped with an odd assortment of equipment. Separate facilities existed because it was felt women in sparse workout attire shouldn't be seen by men. And, equipment requiring a woman to exert herself was felt to be unfeminine (See Reference 2).
What remained for women were floor mats for stretching. A machine with a vibrating belt was supposed to spot reduce by melting the fat away, and there were saunas. It was not until Jack LaLanne's television exercise show of the mid-1950s that women began performing calisthenics, sit ups, band work and light weight lifting.
Time Line
In the late 1980s women began to exercise in previously all-male clubs with free weights. These "Ladies of the Eighties" began bodybuilding. By the 1990s nearly every gym was co-ed.
In the mid-1990s several women only franchise operations flourished, and by 1998 numbered 10,000 plus, these small women only clubs featured scaled down equipment made for women in a circuit fashion. This trend held steady for five years, and then began to slowly decline (See Reference 3.)
Most women feel more comfortable in a women's only health club, but others feel the equipment and experience of the trainers is lacking (See Reference 2). Most of these women only circuit clubs feature equipment downsized for women, but the equipment is too small for many obese women to use. Much of the equipment is hydraulic and provides a beginner with a good starting point, will not accommodate the needs of an advanced trainer.
Equipment Adjustments
All exercise involves the movement of at least one joint. Machines must match the pivot point with the human joint. Adjustments exist on most equipment to move the back forwards and backwards and the seat up and down to accommodate many body sizes. Extra pads are usually available for machines for further adjustment.
Weight Choices
Most machines provide resistance with weight stacks that you select with a pin. Weight stacks are in 5- or 10-pound increments. Some women need smaller increments, and there are 2.5 pound weights that can be added to accommodate these smaller incremental increases.
When you first check out a club, make sure they have dumbbells from starting at 1-pound, fixed weight barbells starting at 20-pounds, and other weighted bars beginning around ten-pounds and up.
Machine Alternatives
All machines imitate exercises that can be done with free weights, cables and bands. If a machine cannot be adjusted so that back, neck or seat does not make stable contact with the user, it's time to move onto to another form of the same exercise using free weights or cables, which adapt to your body, whatever its size.
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