Thursday, October 20, 2011

Don't Be Scared of the Gym!

Joining a gym can be an intimidating experience.  Heck, walking into the door of a gym can be overwhelming.  I know that it took me a couple of years to work up the nerve to check out the gym that I am now a member of and it is located directly across the street!  In addition, it's one of the least intimidating gyms I've ever experienced so I kind of laugh at myself for having been so scared to check it out.

Some gyms are big and bright and shiny and have lots of equipment and group fitness classes and oodles of personal trainers at your disposal.  Some have a swimming pool, tanning bed, smoothie bar.  Some are more basic places to gather and just focus on getting a good workout.

I think what I found intimidating is that I had this idea that a gym was for healthy and fit people.  I think I was unsure that my fat and unfit self would be able to workout without being embarassed or something. 

Which is really ridiculous when you stop and think about it.

But the gyms I've been to and the gym I'm a member of aren't places filled with muscle heads and skinny chicks.  The gyms I've been to and the gym I'm a member of are places where people of all fitness levels come to get some exercise, to push a bit further in their fitness goals, to just be able to move and flex and lift and push.




I showed you mine now tell me about yours!  Tell me about your gym- what you like or don't like.  If you've been intimidated to go check out a gym close to you, I'd love it if you set a goal to go visit and just get a tour and then come back and tell me about it.

Don't be intimidated! Go check it out!

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5 comments:

Unknown said...

So true! The first gym I joined when I started my quest toward a healthier me (in 2010) was a female-only gym. (Not a Curves, but a regular gym with equipment and classes and trainers). Now I'm at the Rec Center through SIU. This is a gym that would be a bit more intimidating, but now that I'm more fit I feel better able to do more and not so worried about what people think when they see me. I work out with a trainer that pushes me so much. He has me doing all kinds of weight things and cross fit circuits. I would've never felt comfortable doing that before, but now I know that I can push myself and do WAY more than I would've imagined!

Garret said...

I have a Jim and didn't have to do much to pick him out.

Shonna said...

I just renewed my Y membership. Im not embarassed at all to go especially when i seen they have a workout area behind a wall! lol my issue is consistency. i need to take responsibility for my life. i need self control. ive had the membership a week and ive been once this week. my initial goal was to go at least 4x a week :)

Nej said...

I was terrified to go to the gym at first. Not necessarily because I didn't know how to use the equipment (I didn't)....but I was afraid to LOOK like I didn't know how to use the equipment. :-)

I started with a gym that's very similar to yours. I'd say take it times 2 or 3 in size. There is a row of treadmills, a row of elipticals...quite a few weight machines. The locker room had 4 showers and a few more lockers, etc, etc. But really....it's the same gym. The people that worked there were so friendly and non judgemental. The people that went everyday were like you and I. I was comfy there, and didn't feel out of place.

Hubby wanted a gym with a pool (I'm not a water person)....so we've switched memberships since. But....I know I picked the perfect gym to start off my healthy lifestyle.

LOVE the videos!!!!!! :-)

(P.S. I'm very fond of those TRX straps!!! Thought about getting a set for at home, as the new huge gym we belong to now only has 1 set. It's usually being monopolized by the same small group of people who works out together each morning.)

Karen M. Peterson said...

I used to belong to a big, flashy gym that was super intimidating and full of really fit people that looked at me like I was an alien whenever I used any of the equipment.

The gym I belong to now is for everyone. There are the meat head jocks that like to hog the free weights and look like morons, but then there are people of all fitness levels at the weight machines and the cardio machines and I never feel like anyone is watching me with judgement.