13 July,2025 10:07 AM IST | Mumbai | Debjani Paul
Jhanvi More deadlifts 80 kg with deceptive ease as the Gym Girls Club cheers her on at a Malad gym. Pics/Nimesh Dave
Jhanvi More, all of five feet and three inches, deadlifts 80 kg with absurd ease, hardly breaking a sweat or grunt. Around her, a group of girls bursts into cheers as she steps off the platform and helps another girl from the gang who's next in line to lift.
We think back to our own short-lived attempts at hitting the gym a couple of years back, and wonder if we'd have kept at it longer if we too had a girls' squad cheering us on.
More seems tickled by our amazement; 80 is not even close to her best. "My PR [personal record] is 150 kg," says the 21-year-old, her eyes twinkling with amusement.
We look around the gym, mostly filled with men, to see if anyone else is stunned. The regulars at the gym seem to be familiar with More's feats with the barbell. What does give the men pause though, is when each of the girls steps up to the platform and takes a turn - no fuss, no hesitation, just executing clean lifts. That's when we can sense curiosity slowly building on the training floor.
"This is exactly why we started Gym Girls Club," says Anusha Mendonsa, who co-founded the online community for women who lift with More exactly a year ago. "When a guy lifts, there are usually 10 more there hyping him up. We wanted the same sense of community for women too," she adds.
Hoping to uplift other women, the Gym Girls Club is hosting the country's first ever deadlift party today in Malad West. A deadlift party is a fun, informal meet where people can learn technique, discuss tips and attempt to improve their personal best while being cheered on by the community.
The club's formation comes bang in the middle of a new wave of women taking to the gym in droves, not just to hit the cardio and pilates equipment, or the yoga and zumba classes, but claiming space on the strength training floor right next to the gym bros. The "gym girlies" or "muscle mommies" are no passing fad - they're part of a movement that's slowly been building pace since the COVID-19 pandemic years, which prompted more awareness around health.
The fact that 140 registrations for the deadlift party - being held on a rooftop - were full within a day just goes to show how big the gym girlies' scene now is in the city.
"The best investment a woman can make in her long-term health is lifting weights. Strength training isn't just for athletes; it's essential for building your bone bank, protecting against osteoporosis, improving hormonal balance, and supporting metabolic health. Whether you're navigating menopause, PCOS, or simply want to age well, resistance training helps prevent insulin resistance, supports healthy body composition, and enhances confidence. Women have been told cardio is enough, but weights build the muscle bank that supports your cardio and everything else," Dr Sukhpreet Patel (MD Obstetrics and gynaecology from India and Masters in Public Health from the UK) tells us over the phone.
Why then have women traditionally been pushed towards "more womanly" exercises such as yoga and aerobics? Ajay Bohini, coach at Strength First gym in Thane, laughs: "Women have been told for ages that if they lift weights, they will bulk up and look manly. Unlike men, though, women do not have as much testosterone and, so, they will only look toned, not bulky."
"There are so many hesitations and misconceptions that hold women back in the gym. I just want them to be able to work out and not give a damn," adds Mendonsa, 22, "When I started going to the gym in 2022, I was overweight and just wanted to get fitter. I'd worry that people were looking at me and judging me. I'd stand in a corner and try to figure out how to do things on my own. Things changed when I met Jhanvi and she helped me."
By that time, More was already ahead in her own training regimen, having started as young as 17. Now a coach certified by the US-based National Academy of Sports Medicine, More not only coaches Mendonsa and other Mumbai "muscle mommies" like her, but also has international clients.
There were a few other women who resonated with the idea of working out together and hyping each other up. "We thought let's just start lifting together and make content around it. The first day we shot a reel, there were about 10 girls lifting and we all cheered for each other. And I could see everybody in the gym looking at us - they had never seen anything like it," recalls the social media consultant. That very first Reel got 1.25 lakh âlikes' on Instagram. "We had so many girls message us from all over India saying that they had always wanted a community like this," she recalls.
Women in the club don't just cheer for each other; they also spot each other, helping everyone meet their goals. One of the universal gripes among women who lift is that while men are always happy to spot or help each other on the weights floor, they don't always help women with the best intentions. "There are times when men step up to us to correct our form or help us, but then end up asking for our name or trying to chat us up. That's not what we're in the gym for," says Mendonsa.
Mendonsa, whose PR is 110 kg, says this sisterhood is all the more important because not everyone understands the kind of grit that strength training takes, nor do they understand the why of it. "A lot of girls worry âAm I thin enough?' It's never âAm I strong enough?' People point out that even though I work out, my arms are not thin. That doesn't matter; my arms are strong," she says.
More, who is also a fitness influencer, has received DMs from men alleging she must be on testosterone if she is able to lift so much. "I just laugh it off," she tells us, "It intimidates some men when they see me lift more than they can. Sometimes, after I'm done with my sets, I will see men at the gym line up to try and improve their PR too."
That said, More cautions women not to blindly chase the numbers and risk injury. Fitness education is still at a nascent stage in the country, and misguided trainers might push gymgoers without taking factors such as a woman's smaller physique, nutrition, sleep schedule or hormonal health into view. "I learnt the hard way, after suffering an injury. That's why I decided to get certified, so I could train safely and help other women," says More, adding, "Don't just chase bigger numbers, know your limits and build up slowly."
Shradha Kurup, 47
Retail executive
PR: 150 kg
(Deadlift)
After the COVID pandemic, like so many of us, Shradha Kurup felt like the months of restricted movement had left her with reduced stamina, unable to do even basic tasks without panting or breaking into a sweat. So, in 2022, she decided to join a gym.
"For a woman of my age, strength training was a great way to battle bone density issues. I kept showing up every day and got better and better, until I decided to compete at powerlifting championships," she recalls.
Today, Kurup is an amateur powerlifter who has won three gold medals at her most recent competition, the Asian Raw Powerlifting Champion that took place in Surat in February.
There's another, very personal motivation for Kurup. She lost her mother last year after she was unable to recover from a severe hip injury. The tragedy drove home the importance of focusing on bone health, a major concern for women post 30s. "Lifting has not only helped me turn my health around, but has also given me the confidence and mental strength to deal with anything else that life may throw at me. Every day, I push myself to go beyond yesterday's best, and when I come out on the other side, I feel like I can handle anything else that comes up the rest of the day."
Roshni Devi Sangwan; 70
Homemaker
PR: 103 kg
You've probably come across Roshini Devi Sangwan's weightlifting feats on social media. She went viral earlier this year after people were amazed to see videos of her lifting 103 kg at the ripe age of 70.
Her son and coach, Ajay Sangwan, recalls how she would barely be able to move a couple of years ago because of a lower back injury and arthritis in her knees. "At the time, doctors had told her she would not be able to move around like before anymore, and told her she should rest more. Instead, I suggested she come to the gym with me."
Roshni chuckles quietly as she chimes in over the phone, "Now I can lift more than 20-year-olds, and have no problems moving around or carrying things."
With her viral fame and inspiring videos, many of her friends and relatives have started going to the gym too, she says. But there are still some who question the point of it. "Sometimes my friend will say, you work out so much, but why haven't you lost weight. But they also agree that I can move around so much more easily now and am at the best health I have been in years," she says.
Viyaa Doshi, 18
Undergraduate student
PR: 5 kg
(Dumbells; starting deadlifts next week)
At six feet, Viyaa Doshi has always been told she has the height for modelling, and it's a career she aspires to as well. Along with those aspirations, though, came the misconception that being a model meant being thin. "Things really changed when I saw models like Adriana Lima posting about their strength training routines," she recalls.
Watching Lima, as well as her own mother pump weights, Doshi was inspired to hit the gym a couple of months back. "When I was a kid, girls just wanted to be skinny. People would tell women not lift weights because it would make them look manly. But now there are so many influencers and even mainstream media telling us about the advantages to working out. I think that's why so many women are hitting the gym now," she says.
"This also came at a really dark time in my life, and I feel like gymming has given me that space to take my mind off things and just dedicate a couple of hours to myself every day."
At the very beginning of her gym journey, Doshi currently exercises with 5kg dumbells, but is looking forward to stepping up to the barbell to try out deadlifts for the first time.
Bianca Creado, 18
Undergraduate student
PR: 100 kg
(Deadlift)
Bianca Creado started lifting three years ago, when she was just 15. At the time, she admits sheepishly, her motivation was mostly validation. "My brother worked out and got a lot of appreciation for it, and I wanted to do it too. I realise now, of course, that I don't need validation from others," she says.
Like so many other women, she struggled to find a footing in a space that was so heavily dominated by men.
"I would just be in a corner trying to figure out what to do. The trainers wouldn't pay attention to me; maybe because I was so young, maybe because I was a girl, or perhaps both. I would just stay on the treadmill. But every time I looked at others lifting weights, I wanted to get that strength too."
Eventually she switched gyms and met better trainers. Now, working out is a safe space for the 18-year-old to let out her rage and frustration, or just spend a quiet moment working on herself.
She shows us the correct form to follow on the chest press, an equipment that intimidated her when she first began her journey. "It is one of the most difficult exercises, according to me. Many women don't train their chest because they think it will make them bulkier or make their b''bs smaller. But that's not true. Now, doing the chest press makes me feel the strongest, even more than deadlifts."
