Getting Over Gym Anxiety

I don't know if it's common or not, but I have trouble going to the gym too. For me, my fear of being watched and criticized kept me pretty much immobilized. I actually finally joined a gym a week ago. It took a lot of self talk to go there... another giant pep talk to meet my trainer... more internal chatter to go to my first solo workout... and it goes on and one. For me, it's a matter of stepping outside my comfort zone and taking the first step. The other thing I need to remember is that most people are too busy thinking about themselves to even notice that I'm there.

Exactly this. You may have a sense that all eyes are on you when you're lifting weights or using the machines, but you're wrong. Most people are there with their headphones in, focused on their workout and not paying attention to anything else.

I get really nervous when I go to work out especially if I do the muscle machines like leg extension or the tricep curl machines. It's getting so bad that I can't even work out in a gym anymore, is this kind of stuff common and how do I get over it?

When i first started lifting i was really intimidated by the "more advanced lifters". I just one day decided i had nothing to worry about and focused on my own goals and have done really well. In fact I learned that most of the people i thought were "advanced lifters" are actually noobies too.

IMO, you just gotta decide that your fitness goals are worth overcoming a little bit of anxiety. After the first time you make that decision it gets dramatically easier to get in the gym and do your thang.

Someone posted this a while back and I keep it printed at my desk with a picture I found on FB of a guy running with the words "No matter how slow you go, you are still lapping everyone on the couch". These have both motivated me and calmed some of my anxiety. I hope they help you as well.

Hey, Fat Girl!

Yes, you. The one feigning to not see me when we cross paths on the running track. The one not even wearing sports gear, breathing heavy. You’re slow, you breathe hard and your efforts at moving forward make you cringe.

You cling shyly to the furthest corridor, sometimes making larger loops on the gravel ring by the track just so you’re not on it. You sweat so much that your hair is all wet. You rarely stay for more than 20 minutes at a time, and you look exhausted when you leave to go back home. You never talk to anyone. I’ve got something I’d like to say to you.

You are awesome.

If you’d look me in the eye only for an instant, you would notice the reverence and respect I have for you. The adventure you have started is tremendous; it leads to a better health, to renewed confidence and to a brand new kind of freedom. The gifts you will receive from running will far exceed the gigantic effort it takes you to show up here, to face your fears and to bravely set yourself in motion, in front of others.

You have already begun your transformation. You no longer accept this physical state of numbness and passivity. You have taken a difficult decision, but one that holds so much promise. Every hard breath you take is actually a tad easier than the one before, and every step is ever so slightly lighter. Each push forward leaves the former person you were in your wake, creating room for an improved version, one that is stronger, healthier and forward-looking, one who knows that anything is possible.

You’re a hero to me. And, if you’d take off the blaring headphones and put your head up for more than a second or two, you would notice that the other runners you cross, the ones that probably make you feel so inadequate, stare in awe at your determination. They, of all people, know best where you are coming from. They heard the resolutions of so many others, who vowed to pick up running and improve their health, “starting next week”. Yet, it is YOU who runs alongside, who digs from deep inside to find the strength to come here, and to come back again.

You are a runner, and no one can take that away from you. You are relentlessly moving forward. You are stronger than even you think, and you are about to be amazed by what you can do. One day, very soon, maybe tomorrow, you’ll step outside and marvel at your capabilities. You will not believe your own body, you will realize that you can do this. And a new horizon will open up for you. You are a true inspiration.

I bow to you.