Feel like an awkward moose at the gym?

It's hard sometimes, but you shouldn't let yourself get psyched over what other people might be thinking. If somebody's judging you in their head, just realize what it says about them. If they're going to be shallow enough to think critically of someone else and make snap judgements, they're not worth wasting a moment's thought about.

When you're in the gym, get in a zone. It's all about you and your process. Pop in the earbuds, stay focused, work hard, and don't give two poos about what some superficial jerk thinks. And remember, nobody looks natural the first time they do anything; everybody has to have a first time doing something before they can have a second.

Have fun!

My first day at the gym was cut to about ten minutes! I felt so awkward and like everyone was staring at me, sick to my stomach and had to bail! Next time, I took headphones and it changed everything. Now I can just block everything out and RUN! (Today was the first time I could bring myself to run in public!) you can do it, just give yourself some time to get comfortable.

Look around when you're at the gym... There are very few 'fit' people. And besides everything is awkward at first. (ie parallel parking when someone is watching, conference calls when you realize the button you thought was mute isn't, most first adventures with booze, etc...) Stick with it and you'll be a natural in no time. It's easier if you bring a friend until you get comfortable.

OP and anyone else who is scared: no one is watching you. Everyone is so focused on their own workout that I doubt they even notice you're there. Realizing that no one in the world cares about how silly you look is pretty liberating.

^ This.

And I just want to add... I'm a treadmill people-watcher. I have YET to see an "awkward moose" at a gym. What have I seen?

1) Determined, embarrassed women carry their hand weights up the stairs to exercise behind me on the mezzanine where men can't see them.
2) Elderly men SPRINT at 7.5 on a treadmill for 90s
3) A woman EASILY in her 3rd trimester pedaling at a leisurely pace on a stationary bike, thumbing through a magazine
4) MASSIVE body builders jumping up like they've been GOOSED to remove 25lb plates they'd forgotten on machines for the elderly woman that wants to use the machine after them

NEVER have I EVER seen ANYONE pointing and laughing. And that's about 3 years of running... an hour at a time... three to four times per week. And at three different gyms.

How can you agree but then admit you watch people? I currently have a gym membership at a 24 hour gym so I go when its empty

Even though I have free access to a fitness center in my community with lots of weight machines that I didn't know how to use, I joined the gym at my college and go after classes. Most of the people working out are ripped guys anywhere from 18 to 25. Most of them don't pay much attention to me though I have made a couple of "Hi, how are ya" friends. A personal trainer is included in the price I pay each semester (though I do have to share him at times) so it's been a great experience to have someone helping me. He keeps track of the weights I did the previous time on each machine so I don't have to experiment.

I did have a funny experience today though. Some of the weights that I'm able to do with my arms and shoulders are fairly heavy and my hands hurt and get red--and my rings gouge into my skin. My trainer offered to put them in his pocket today but I forgot to ask for them back! I called and asked them to put them in a safe place and I'll get them tomorrow.

I wish there weren't so many mirrors in my gym. I don't like watching my "fluffy" body in the mirror or the grimaces on my face when I'm lifting heavier than usual. But, I know why they are there. Some of the guys are addicting to posing and flexing their muscles and watching themselves. It's really funny to watch how vain a couple of them are.

I'm 63 and am by far the oldest person working out. A couple of the guys have said they are proud of me for working out 4 days a week. I just switched to doing two full-body workouts a week and will do 40 minutes of cardio the other two days. I'm on my 7th week and have only lost 3-4 pounds since I started despite staying on with my mfp goals every day. I think it must be because I'm building more muscle and retaining fluid I guess. However--here's a nsv: my pants are fitting looser and I'm getting closer to my goal of being able to do "girl-push-ups."

I'm not sure what I will do during the Christmas break from around Dec 11 until third week of January though. My school gym is a 20 minute drive and I won't want to use the gas just to go work out. Maybe I'll go to my own fitness center down the street and try out those machines that I never had confidence to use before.

Most important thing to remember: You paid for your membership--use it. Don't feel intimidated by all the young, ripped bods. They'll get old one these days too, lol! And as someone else mentioned, they are concentrating on their own workouts too much to worry about watching you.

I'm another one who feels exactly the same that you do - although I was going for left-footed rhino as opposed to moose!

I've cut workout short especially when Mr Intimo-Man is there - he's lovely and encouraging but I just feel EEEKKKK. I go to a very small family run gym and everyone is nice and friendly and all but there are some days where I just can't get over other people being there - other days it's fine.

So what I do is I go, do SOMETHING and then give myself permission to leave if it's all too much,

Most days I do more than I did the day before which is always my goal.

Today I fell off the stair climber, while trying to retrieve the phone I dropped, but only after I knocked my open bottle of water all over two, count 'em TWO, machines. And I did it right in front of the best female lifter in our gym (a competitive powerhouse).

Everyone has awkward moose days. I find that no one is paying attention to general awkwardness, and very specific soup-sandwich-awkwardness...well, you can only bow and take your applause.

On a serious note, I did bow, salute the aforementioned weightlifter, and declared "I quit!" And she answered, "Don't quit! Never quit! We all have those days."

It helps to either work with a trainer at first or go in with a specific list of lifts/exercises you've researched and planned ahead of time. It minimizes the looking confused part. But again, no one is paying attention, unless you are literally falling off equipment while sending your personal items hither and yon.

This made me laugh! I definitely feel like that. I live on a marine corps base and use the gym there, which is full of incredibly fit people! But there's nothing to be afraid of, everyone is there for the same reasons and no one is going to judge you!