Thanks so much for empathizing, it really does mean a lot <3 I think they did talk to the employees beforehand as one of the staff approached and essentially told me it would be ok to stay for 5 more min but to sign up next time. However the women still came up to me afterwards and started yelling at me. One of the other employees saw what happened, apologized, and pointed out to me how to sign up for the equipment. She was very nice and said that she told them not to approach me but they did so anyway.

And yes, I am planning on learning how to lift and use the strength machines as I've always had a very high body fat percentage even when UW. I'd also just like to get stronger, I'm very weak despite looking somewhat fit lol