Are women comfortable joining your gym?

Updated October 2026 with a new section on pregnant and postpartum members, from our PushStart webinar with Brianna Battles of Pregnancy & Postpartum Athleticism.

Would a woman feel comfortable joining your gym? Most owners would say yes. A better test is what she sees before she ever talks to you: your website, your social posts, your front desk, and the first ten minutes of her first class. Those details tell her whether the gym was built with her in mind.

Women make up nearly half of U.S. fitness facility members (Health & Fitness Association, 2025), and they don't need a different playbook from any other new lead. Treat her like every other prospect who walks through your door. What makes the difference is seeing herself represented, a strong onboarding, and programming that fits her needs. Here's how to get all three right.

How to make your gym a place women want to join

1. Show women training in your marketing

Look at your website and social feed the way a prospect would. If the photos are mostly men, or the only women shown are in before-and-after shots, that's the story she reads. Show women lifting, competing, coaching, and laughing with their training partners. Talk about what members can do, like strength, new skills, energy, and the people they train with, rather than how they look.

2. Tell her what to expect before she arrives

Send details before her first visit: what to wear, what to bring, where to park, and what the class will look like. Nobody likes walking into a new place without knowing the routine.

3. Make the first ten minutes count

Greet her by name as soon as she walks in. Give her a quick tour, show her where to put her things, and tell her how long until class starts. Even better, ask a member to be her go-to for that first class. As Beatrice Jin of Kogaion Academy puts it in our post on building a women's program that sticks, people remember whether someone wanted them there long after they forget the workout.

4. Learn her goals, then coach to them

Before class, ask what she's training for and what her background is, and share a little about yourself. If she needs any modifications, have that conversation privately. Then coach her toward her goals the same way you would any other member.

5. Plan a first class she can succeed in

For anyone's first class, pick movements you can coach well and scale easily. She should leave feeling challenged and capable, with a clear sense of what she'll learn next. That's what brings people back.

6. Sweat the small stuff

Small details say a lot. Hair ties and hygiene products in the bathroom tell a woman the gym expected her to show up. So does how your coaches handle the floor: shut down an off-color joke or a comment about someone's body the first time it happens. What you tolerate becomes your standard.

7. Offer a women's class as an option, not a box

Some women like to start in a women's class, especially when they're new to training or coming back after a baby. It can be a great entry point. Just make sure your marketing also shows women training in your regular classes, so the women's class reads as a door, not a wall. Here's how to decide whether to run one.

What about pregnant and postpartum members?

New moms are one of the biggest groups of women most gyms overlook. About 85% of U.S. women have given birth by their early 40s (Pew Research Center). As Brianna Battles, founder of Pregnancy & Postpartum Athleticism, puts it: “If you aren’t coaching moms, you’re just not coaching moms yet.”

When PushPress host Zach Forrest heard that, he counted the members at his own gym. Eight of his roughly 70 members were pregnant or had given birth in the past year. Just over 10% of the gym.

The risk is losing them after the baby arrives. At AffiliateCon, a CrossFit member told Brianna she was one of only two moms from her group who came back after giving birth. It wasn’t price. Getting back simply felt like too much.

A few things make the comeback easier:

• Give real guidance, not “just listen to your body.” You’d give a member coming back from ACL surgery clear parameters. New moms need the same. Here’s what every coach should know.
• Let the baby come. Many postpartum programs keep the baby right next to mom in a car seat or on a blanket, so she doesn’t have to choose between working out and childcare.
• Offer a bridge. A 6-week postpartum series, followed by a women’s strength class, gives moms a way back before they’re ready for regular classes. Here’s how to set one up and what to charge.

Watch the full webinar with Brianna Battles for the coaching side, or see the three moments members are most likely to quit.

Coach women like the athletes they are, set them up to succeed in their first few weeks, and they'll stick around.