Ten years ago the section of my gym where the heavy lifting occurs was a woman-free zone. Now it’s not unusual to find women, not men, using the two large metal frames or “cages”  that hold barbells for doing heavyweight squats.  

There’s a new sense of gender equality in the world of working out, with more women doing the same exercises and using the same equipment as men. Rather than clustering on the cardio machines, women are springing on and off boxes, tackling Olympic lifts and muscling in on the pull-up bar – and for that we can thank CrossFit, according to  a new book that charts the evolution of fitness culture from ancient Greece to the present day.    

CrossFit, the program that mixes elements of high intensity interval training, lifting, plyometrics and gymnastics – among other things – has normalised men and women working out together says Daniel Kunitz, a New York-based contributor to Vanity Fair and author of Why the Pain? What’s the Gain?

“Previously, even when females had access to exercise, they were an afterthought, held to lower standards and assumed to be less capable than their male counterparts,” he writes. “CrossFit has put women on a rigorously equal and as thoroughly visible footing as men.”

Sydney-based strength coach Tony Boutagy couldn’t agree more.

“Heavy strength training movements like Olympic lifting or doing squats or deadlifts with heavy weights were traditionally things women didn’t do – instead the majority of women were doing fat burning aerobics and focusing on toning butts and abs,” says Boutagy who trains both elite athletes and fitness professionals . “I think there are women who’ve always wanted to do chin ups and now CrossFit has made resistance training more accessible.”

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