Women need safe spaces to PR.
What’s happening: Fitness brand incubator Founders Row launched LiftHER, a women’s-only lifting boutique debuting in Dallas this September, with plans to scale nationally.
In the mix. The brainchild of longtime Orangetheory Fitness franchisee Jamie Weeks, SculptHouse founder Katherine Mason, and Nike Global Trainer Betina Gozo Shimonek, LiftHER is a place for women to feel comfortable lifting heavy weights.
A tight-knit, progress-oriented community, classes are capped at 14 women, each stationed at their own weight rack, and members receive DEXA scans to track body recomposition. Plotting expansion across the US Southeast, plans include co-locating with Mason’s Lagree fitness concept in the Atlanta area.
Empowered. More women are embracing resistance training, yet many still cite intimidation, harassment, and fear of injury at the gym.
Specializing, strength-focused concepts like CHI’s Ladies Who Lift, NY’s Tension, and LA’s PWRGRLS are multiplying. Making space, European clubs like Basic-Fit, McFIT, and TrainMore launched dedicated women’s zones, while Equinox’s ARC membership tailors programming to women.
Punchline: As lifting goes mainstream, the future of women’s strength isn’t lighter weights; it’s lower barriers.
