Intimidated by Weight training

I know how you feel. I have been extremely fit and now extremely overweight. Getting married, having babies, several abdominal surgeries later i let myself go. It is hard fighting discouragement and staying motivated. Every time I would get back into somewhat decent shape I would get pregnant again, lol. Go figure? So, here I am still fighting. I dont think i would have the confidence right now to work out in front of people like that either. But, maybe I would force myself to get over that if I was paying a gym memebership. You have just as much right to be over there as they do. Who knows, they could turn out to be really nice and offer you some good tips. Anyway, I love weight training. I love how strong it makes me feel an I love being able to see results in the mirror and in clothing sizes going down. With strength training you can definitely not rely on the scale like you do with cardio. however, if you have never done it before you need to have instruction in proper form or you could hurt yourself. So, I would recommend getting a personal trainer or get a good instructional video at home. You really don't need all the equipment when starting out. You need to concentrate on good form. I prefer low weights and high reps anyway so I can do all I need at home with a good set of dumbells. Increasing the weight slowly as I get stronger. As for doing my lower body right now my backside is producing enough resistance for me currently, lol. As I lose weight I will add weight to keep challenging myself. I hope this helps and God bless you on your journey.

look into new rules for lifting for women. great book to start with.

don't let those guys intimate you. go in with your headphones on and stay focused. I go in and get my stuff done. I have only had 2 guys ever bother me. I roll my eyes and ignore them.

try reading New Rules of LIfting for Women, or Starting Strength.

grab a friend to join you, and just do it. After a few times, you'll be comfortable with your routine.

Weight training if done properly can actually burn more calories than cardio. Not only that but you get your body in shape and it completely changes how you look to a much better more happy version. I would not use free weights either as it can lead to bad form and injuries. I know that most the guys at my gym are on the free weight side so I do not have problems getting on machines unless its packed. As long as you do whats comfortable for you and do not sit around like I see 80% of the people at my gym do, then you will burn 500+ calories along with the hours after the workout that you will burn even more. Typical males like that are just stupid and ignorant. Regardless of the situation, do not limit yourself because of others. Hope this helps.

New Rules of Lifting for Women is awesome, I highly recommend it, reading it first gave me the confidence to go and get stuck in.

Check out the books "Starting Strength" or "New Rules of Lifting for Women" ... or google Stronglifts 5x5, or go to bodybuilding.com to check out some of their routines. I researched and talked to people online (here and bodybuilding.com) for a long time before I got the nerve to go over there. I was nervous because I had never done it before was scared of looking stupid, but I just went over there and did it. Once I got over there, it wasn't scary anymore. All you can do is just do it.

New Rules of Lifting for women is a great way to start, also talk to staff at the gym, they'll help you. As far as going into guidoland (as my daughter calls it) put on some headphones, crank up the music and just do your thing!