A new gym in Williams Lake is empowering women to come together and work on their mental and physical health.<\/p>\n
Located in an old taekwondo studio on Second Avenue, She Shed<\/a> had its grand opening on Jan. 5, but had a month-long soft launch in December which attracted 75 women through its doors.<\/p>\n \u201cIt blew me away,\u201d said Rachel Cram, owner of the new women\u2019s fitness studio.<\/p>\n Cram comes from a bodybuilding background, and has previously owned three other gyms. When she moved to Williams Lake three years ago, she said she felt something was missing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was so fulfilling for me to be around women,\u201d Cram said, explaning that much of her experience has been with all-women gyms. So when she found the perfect space for what she envisioned, Cram decided to build a new fitness community here in Williams Lake.<\/p>\n \u201cGyms can be intimidating places for anyone, especially for women who may be struggling with mental health concerns or body image,\u201d Cram said. Her goal is to create a safe space where women feel comfortable to move, connect and build up their confidence while working on their mental and physical health.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd that\u2019s exactly what\u2019s happened,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve been able to help some people already, so that\u2019s super important to me, the mental health aspect.\u201d<\/p>\n Brittney Cole, a recent graduate in Early Childhood Education and a mother of two, was one of the first women to visit the She Shed.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like we laugh more than anything there,\u201d Cole said, having now attended the gym for a full month.<\/p>\n Cole said she was struggling with her mental health when she first heard about the She Shed, and was looking to get active to help support her wellbeing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was the environment that made me want to stay,\u201d Cole said. \u201cYou\u2019re vulnerable when you\u2019re working out, so being around just women really helps with being comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n As the gym provides isntructor-led and timed training sessions, Cole said it helps hold herself accountable without pressuring her to do something she can\u2019t.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard work but after you\u2019re done you feel so much better,\u201d Cole said. \u201cI\u2019ve been there a month and a bit now and my mental health has definitely improved.\u201d<\/p>\n She also said she feels connected to the other women attending the gym as well as to Cram, who she had a long talk with on her first day of training.<\/p>\n \u201cShe just made me feel really not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n The gym offers small group training classes lasting about 45 minutes, all of which involve cardio and, depending on the day, will also involve exercises focused on full body, agility and core, lower and upper body.<\/p>\n \u201cYou come in, you have fun, you sweat\u2026and then you leave, and everyone always leaves smiling,\u201d Cram said.<\/p>\n Classes of up to 18 women are led by an instructor and always wrap up with stretching. At the moment, the gym is open Monday to Saturday with classes offered in the mornings and late afternoons. The gym can also take on private groups, and has already done so with the local Timberwolves U18 girls rep hockey team who attend once a week for conditioning.<\/p>\n \u201cThe girls love it,\u201d said Team Manager Jodi Escott, whose daughter is also a member of the team.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a really nice, supportive, comfortable environment,\u201d Escott said, adding that the girls appreciate the dim blue lighting and music that comes along with the training.<\/p>\n Escott signed the team up at the She Shed due to its covenient proximity to the high school, and said Cram has been very supportive, even helping injured players find ways to safely exercise.<\/p>\n Escott has also signed up for classes at the She Shed, and said she loves the positive, no judgement approach to fitness<\/p>\n \u201cTime passes quickly cause you\u2019re having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n To learn more, visit the She Shed Facebook page<\/a>, or register by visiting mindbodyonline.com\/explore<\/a> and searching Williams Lake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new gym in Williams Lake is empowering women to come together and work on their mental and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408310,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[49,48,407,84],"class_list":{"0":"post-408309","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-fitness","11":"tag-health"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}