Girls Who Lift exists to inspire women at the University of Wyoming to start lifting and create a community for both novice and skilled lifters to feel supported and uplifted. The club also provides resources for interested members and shares workouts to improve everyone’s skills.
When Quetzalli Penaloza Orozco, the current president of Girls Who Lift, heard about the club from their previous president, she was instantly intrigued.
“I love working out and getting girls involved, I knew in this position I could get more people to step outside of their comfort zone,” Penaloza Orozco said.
As president, Penaloza Orozco organizes classes at Half Acre Gym, recruits new girls to join the club, and even curates a few workout classes of her own.
“I send out the emails and get everyone together and encourage the girls to come…I’ve been trying to get more involved with the classes they offer at Half Acre,” Penaloza Orozco said.
Penaloza Orozco values the strong sense of female-driven community that Girls Who Lift provides, and greatly enjoys getting to recruit new girls.
“When girls who don’t typically come are so excited to come because it’s more of a “girls only” comfortable safe space…I just love getting new members,” Penaloza Orozco said.
Savannah Barkhoff, an active member of Girls Who Lift, was also drawn to the promise of a fun female-centric exercise community.
“Finding workouts that fit my schedule and are productive has been a challenge, so having a community to assist with that and just to get other fun, structured workouts in is so nice…rather than trying to go on that journey by myself,” Barkhoff said.
Girls Who Lift isn’t exclusive to lifting either. The club strives to offer a diverse range of workouts to ensure that every part of your body is being exercised.
“…It’s very versatile…we do different things each week, so this week we went to a Zumba class on campus, last week we went to a pilates class, we’ve done cycling classes, we’ve done yoga, and we’ve done circuit workouts with dumbbells,” Barkhoff said, “…it’s really flexible and I like that I get to explore different areas of campus with girls who are in a similar boat as I am”.
When asked why people should join the club, Barkhoff said, “…if you’re lost in the workout world and you just want a group to engage with that’s low-commitment and low-effort, this is a great place to do that..it’s a great way to be involved in a female community”.
Whether you are an experienced lifter or brand new to the sport, Girls Who Lift offers a fun community of women passionate about bettering themselves through exercise.
To find out when Girls Who Lift meets or to get in touch with leadership, students can visit the club’s UW Cowbell page or their Instagram page, @girlswholiftwyo.
