Anxiety working out while other people in gym

Most people are too busy with their own exercising to look at you. When I am in the gym, I am thinking about my next machine, doing the current machine correctly, how long I have been working, what my heart rate is, etc. Even in a full room, I barely notice anyone, unless they are on my next machine.

A gym is a place where you can be surrounded by people who are thinking mostly about what they're doing for themselves and we're just one more face blurring into the background for them. It's the kind of thing where you can meld into the crowd and still be completely alone. You've got to force yourself to go a time or two to prove it to yourself, though. However, if it's part of a larger pattern where you're routinely denying yourself the chance to go out and do things you want/need to do because you're anxious about being around people, then you might need to mention it the next time you see your doctor.

I think we're missing what sort of gym it is too. Different gyms and clubs come with their own etiquette, social rules, class of client etc. There are traditional sweat shops where the iron clangs , people grunt or even shout as they're lift, the lockers bang and the view is a concrete wall with a few ageing posters of Arnold and you bring your own towel, and the lighting is a glaring fluorescent etc.

Then there are your gated country club places where everything is wiped down and pish posh, you get an unlimited supply of towels (white), a lemon water is waiting for you post workout and the antibacterial spray smells of lavender and green tea. Tennis courts and swimming pools usually accompany these properties and if you grunt or shout in the gym people may ask if you're alright or look at you as though you've used the wrong fork. The showers are better than what you have at home and Molten Brown soap is found in the loo's. There is ALOT of beautiful looking staff onboard and always there to help out with questions you may have.

Lastly there are the community gyms usually run by the city or burrough. Here the average age seems to be 65, you can find the gyms at a public pool. or a college or university faculty who has open their doors to the community to bring in additional income. Folks are pretty much your everyday chocolate box variety with serious beginners of all shapes and sizes to the gym hotty or eye candy who everyone aspires to look like one day. Staff is very enthusiastic but short in numbers. Grunting is allowed.

Of course there are many derivatives of the three basics mentioned above.

I've attended all three and each came with different comfort zones and anxiety levels. And the time of day you attend will also change the herd that visits each of these established categories.

Shop around if you can for a place where you feel welcomed. You're looking for your tribe. Be prepared to be flexible with where that gym is. You may have to work it into your commute to work or visit to the relatives or pick up of kids from school. I've belonged to over sixty gyms, pools, weight rooms, tri clubs in different countries with some my favourites and my not so favourites - places where I excelled and places where I had sheer panic.

Good luck!