We talked to the Leeds girls trading cardio shifts for dead lifts

There’s a growing community of women in gyms across the country: women with barbells, dumbbells, squat racks, on benches, and also women weight lifting. And with an obvious increase in online fitness bloggers donning gym shark leggings and demonstrating lat pull downs, this fitness movement isn't accidental.

Women have been fighting for years for increased representation in the weightlifting community, and now they’re taking to social media in droves.

The Leeds Tab found out why more girls at The Edge seem to be lifting weights than hitting the treadmill, and spoke to some of the female students who can definitely bench press more than you.

But why are women starting to weight lift?

Aside from the obvious physical gains, there’s evidence that regular resistance training can decrease depression and improve productivity. It's also a great way to destress, as well as lose weight and tone up.

Meg Squats, a fitness coach and online influencer with more than 460k followers on instagram, is one of the influencers at the front of this fitness movement.

Since starting out on Youtube, Meg now runs a coaching programme called Stronger by the Day, which has its own active Facebook group with over 3000 female lifters.

But it's not just fitness coaches who love to lift.

Lauren, a dentistry student at the University of Leeds, has been weight lifting for six years. She’s recently noticed more women posting about their fitness journey online, but doesn’t think this actually reflects the reality of many girls at the gym.

"There's a stigma that girls will get 'too big' if they lift heavy weights, but women don't actually have enough testosterone in their bodies to build muscle like men. Unless you eat, sleep, and breathe bodybuilding, it's pretty near impossible to gain the same amount of muscle as a man by weightlifting."

Many female lifters, such as Lauren, also have separate Instagram accounts to showcase their fitness journeys, and other accounts like Girlswholift, share stories from female powerlifters, weight lifters, and bodybuilders, to more than 212k instagram followers.

But there’s still work that needs to be done to encourage women to ditch the treadmill and pick up the barbell.

Although the conversation about the benefits of weightlifting has started, the best way to see just how positive it can be for both your mental and physical health is to try it out yourself.

So go on, pick up that barbell and start squatting.