Hey loves,

Today’s blog post is going to be about 12 different gym cultures all around the world.

In this blog post, I’m going to cover how seriously the people in the gym took their training, what exercises they did, whether they were natural athletes or not and what types of physiques the gym goers sported/aimed for. 

I will also share other observations about the gym goers that I noticed that might be useful whenever you visit these countries. 

This list is divided into different continents and the countries that I have visited!

Europe:

France:

How seriously do they take their training?

The men were more serious about their training than the women were. Men were in the weights section lifting heavy, doing the squats and deadlifts and in the cardio section running.

I also noticed men outside of the gym running on the streets, fast walking and biking. Some men that I met in Paris were into group sports like paddling.

The women were predominantly doing cardio at the gym, performing light glutes exercises or were active outside of the gym by walking, running or biking.

Check out my blog post on how French women stay fit to find out why they are mainly walking or performing sports outside of the gym.

They rely mainly on pleasure-seeking for consistency and find the redundancy of gym to be something that will eventually lead to its cessation.

What type of training did men and women do? 

Men were mainly lifting weights, running, biking or walking. Women were mainly walking or jogging on the treadmill or elliptical, walking and running on the streets or doing light glutes exercises at the gym.

I did notice a higher presence of women than men in the yoga classes at the gym.

Were they natural or enhanced? 

Both the men and women I noticed in Paris were natural athletes. The women were by no means motivated to be exceptionally fit and muscular and the men were driven by their love for fitness instead of a body type.

What type of physique do they have/aim for? 

Lean and toned for both men and women. The curvaceous body type was not at all trending in gyms there with mostly athletic types of bodies being popular there.

In non-gym contexts, women were slim, feminine and lean.

England:

How seriously do they take their training? 

Both men and women in London gyms took their training very seriously. I loved seeing women lifting heavy weights and men being friendly and encouraging as they also trained quite hard.

What type of training did men and women do? 

Both men and women were performing deadlifts and squats. I always see women setting up their hip thrust stations and men benching or going hard on their shoulder sets.

I noticed some people on the cardio equipment as well but those were mainly overweight people trying to lose weight, skinny women or very fit people warming up/cooling down.

Were they natural or enhanced? 

Some enhanced physiques but mostly natural athletes. I did notice some girls and guys with the Brazilian butt lift surgery as well.

What type of physique do they have/aim for? 

For women, curvy and bootylicious has definitely been the sought after aesthetic over the last few years there.

Men are into the bodybuilder look with quite a few being on gear or really taking their progressive overload seriously.

Germany:

How seriously do they take their training? 

Very! I noticed that they value being physically active. The swimming pool was full, I noticed runners all around the city and the gyms were full but mostly of men.

While women were present and training at the gym, it wasn’t as full of women than as of men. Women were doing cardiovascular exercises and some light weights.

What type of training did men and women do? 

Women and men were running and swimming as a form of exercise. Women were also doing cardiovascular exercise at the gym as well as light weights with men doing most of the heavy lifting.

The emphasis is on being physically active and health over aesthetics in my observation.

Were they natural or enhanced? 

They were mostly natural physiques.

What type of physique do they have/aim for? 

Tall, lean and toned. I barely noticed any Brazilian butt lifts or breast augmentations, similarly, men looked athletic instead of being built like a bodybuilder.

Denmark:

How seriously do they take their training? 

Quite seriously! The gym was full and it seems as though there is an emphasis placed on physical fitness in Danish culture as well.

I noticed people walk a lot as well as ride their bicycles. Runners are commonly found on the street as well.

What type of training did men and women do? 

Men were mostly lifting weights for health and aesthetic purposes. I did not notice any power lifters or huge bodybuilders in the gyms there.

The women were lifting light weights, stretching or performing cardio.

Were they natural or enhanced? 

Both the men and women were natural athletes.

What type of physique do they have/aim for? 

The women were fairly tall, lean and slim. The men were tall, lean and athletic.

Romania:

How seriously do they take their training? 

Very! The men much more than the women. The women aim for a feminine, lean and curvy body whereas the men are much more into bodybuilder type of physiques.

What type of training did men and women do? 

Men were lifting both moderate and heavy weights whereas women were always doing light lower body workouts.

On occasion, I did see some women working their upper bodies but once again, using light weights.

Were they natural or enhanced? 

Some of the men were enhanced and the women had plastic surgery and natural physiques.

What type of physique do they have/aim for? 

Men aimed for a masculine athletic or bodybuilder type of physique whereas women had a more slim, feminine and curvy body type.

Bulgaria:

How seriously do they take their training? 

Very seriously! Both men and women had amazing bodies and took their fitness quite seriously.

What type of training did men and women do? 

Similarly to Romania, the men were into achieving a masculine athletic/bodybuilder body type whereas women were into retaining their femininity with the addition of building some curves.

Were they natural or enhanced? 

Some men were taking anabolic steroids with women turning to plastic surgery like a BBL and/or breast augmentation.

What type of physique do they have/aim for? 

Women had feminine, slim physiques with some having curves and the other remaining petite. The men had bodybuilder types of bodies.

Spain:

How seriously do they take their training? 

They took it quite seriously! There was definitely, however, more of a laid back vibe in the gyms I visited in Barcelona and Marbella than the others on this list.

While the gym was very crowded with both men and women, it wasn’t in the style of powerlifting or bodybuilding, it was mostly just a warm and friendly place to train and reach your goals.

I noticed that tennis, running and swimming were also commonly played sports as well.

What type of training did men and women do? 

Women were walking/running on the streets or doing cardio and strength training exercises at the gym. Men were lifting weights, playing tennis, swimming or walking/running.

Were they natural or enhanced? 

Some enhanced physiques for men mixed with natural physiques, I also noticed some Brazilian Butt Lift surgeries (this included men as well).

What type of physique do they have/aim for? 

Definitely a curvy aesthetic is popular for women with some gay men aiming for Slim thick but athletic as well.

The straight men had athletic and bodybuilder types of physiques and this looked amazing with their tans!

Italy:

How seriously do they take their training? 

Quite seriously. A lot of Italians walk, ride their bikes and run as well.

What type of training did men and women do? 

Men were lifting weights and doing cardio whereas women were mostly lifting lighter weights and doing cardio.

Were they natural or enhanced? 

I noticed mostly natural physiques for both the women and men.

What type of physique do they have/aim for? 

The women aimed to remain feminine and be slim much like the French women. The men were athletic and had mostly footballer type of physiques.

Asia:

Middle East:

Dubai:

How seriously do they take their training? 

Not so seriously! At the gyms I went to, it was mostly men training. The women that went were doing light glutes or abs workouts in a corner or working with a personal trainer.

What type of training did men and women do? 

The men were doing activities like boxing or swimming as well as lifting weights. Women were mainly doing cardiovascular exercise or light glutes, stretching and abs workouts

Were they natural or enhanced? 

Natural physiques with plastic surgery for women, the most surgery I’ve seen out of this list. Men had natural physiques with maybe slight enhancements for some of the bigger physiques.

What type of physique do they have/aim for? 

Curvy and toned is definitely the aesthetic of choice in Dubai. For men, looking visibly fit with bigger muscles is the aesthetic.

Lebanon:

How seriously do they take their training? 

Very! The women shy away from lifting too heavy here but you’ll often find one or two women going quite heavy and hard.

Those 1 or 2 women that I see at the gyms here are super strong and can out lift most of the other women on this list.

The men attach their masculinity to their training so they are definitely going hard and heavy with their training.

What type of training did men and women do? 

Men lift heavy weights and are either bodybuilders or power lifters. The women who lift heavy are performing hip thrusts, squats and deadlifts with the other women doing light banded work or kettle bell squats.

Were they natural or enhanced? 

The men are mostly enhanced meaning they are taking substances to look as ripped and muscular as they do.

A lot of the women here have fake breasts or butts as well and are maintaining the butt fullness with a personal trainer or with bands/light weights.

What type of physique do they have/aim for? 

Curvy is 100% in for Lebanese women. A slim thick aesthetic is popular for the women who are super into gym with the less active gym-goers being satisfied with just full glutes.

The men are into the fitness model look or bodybuilder aesthetic, not shying away from getting on steroids to achieve the look.

America:

Las Vegas:

How seriously do they take their training? 

They take their fitness very seriously and highly value being physically fit. The gyms are the biggest I’ve seen on the list and are fully packed with equipment and people.

What type of training did men and women do? 

Both men and women were lifting weights.

Were they natural or enhanced? 

Physiques were both natural and enhanced. Some women had plastic surgery and some men had enhanced physiques.

What type of physique do they have/aim for? 

Women aimed for a curvy and slim thick aesthetic whereas men were into the bodybuilder/fitness model aesthetic.

California:

How seriously do they take their training? 

They also take their fitness very seriously and highly value being physically fit. The gyms are also large and widespread and are packed with equipment and people.

What type of training did men and women do? 

Both genders lifted weights at a similar intensity. This is where I noticed female lifters and women who valued reaching their bodybuilding or athletic potential.

Were they natural or enhanced? 

Some enhanced via supplements and plastic surgery, a lot of natural slim thick physiques as well.

What type of physique do they aim for? 

Slim thick or Fit thick for women and bodybuilding and muscular physiques for men.

I hope that you enjoyed this blog post on the 12 different gym cultures all around the world, please let me know what you thought about it in the comments section below!