New Cal Poly club lifts up women in the gym

A new club on campus, Cal Poly Girl Gains is focused on supporting women in the gym and educating women on lifting weights.

This club was created by AG Business sophomore, Caitlin Flaherty, when she noticed that no club on campus offered exactly what she was looking for.

“It’s quite a male dominated space,” Flaherty said. “So for people who either don’t know how to lift or already do lift, just kind of creating a community of women that can support one another.”

Girl Gains is a national club that originally started at San Diego State University in 2020.

Flaherty discovered the club when scrolling on Tik Tok and decided to bring it to Cal Poly.

“Honestly my mom inspired me to start it because she was like you love lifting so much you need to connect with other girls and create this community and I was like you know what I totally should start it,” Flaherty said.

At a recent club fair, Cal Poly Girl Gains had over four hundred students sign up.

Child Development sophomore, Emma Brodsky, says she knows other women who want to lift, but are too intimidated by how many men are in the gym.

“Last year when I got here, I strictly walked on the treadmill with an incline because of how intimidated I was,” Brodsky said.

Cal Poly Girl Gains plants to bring in nutritionists and certified personal trainers to help educate their members. 

Flaherty is hoping to start having meetings beginning in early October.

They have received an immense amount of positive feedback from students who have been waiting for a club like this.

“Freshman that have come up to our club fair booth saying I have no idea how to even begin and I was like that’s perfect, like that’s why we are here, we want to help you cause I was there at one point too,” Flaherty said.

For more information visit their Instagram @cpgirlgains.