Gym Intimidation

Close your eyes and imagine you’ve never stepped foot in a gym, you’ve seen pictures and heard stories, but you’ve never been interested in the past. You find yourself curious so you take a trip to your closest neighborhood gym. You walk in, take a tour, and sign up because you want to try something new, and the cost of most gym memberships are a non-factor anymore. Simply stop eating out once a month and you’ve easily covered your gym membership, and maybe even a tanning/supplement package too.

So now that you’re all official you decide to work out for the first time. You’re working out alone, so you take a couple laps around the facility to check out the equipment. A lot of big, bulky, heavy looking pieces of machinery surrounding dumbbells, bars, racks, and gizmos. You suddenly feel uneasy and confused, no idea where to start or how to use anything correctly. You self-consciously don’t want to look like a rookie so you retreat to the treadmill or recumbent bike where the motions are similar and comfortable.

This type of scenario happens all the time, and unfortunately it causes a lot of people to stop coming back to their gym. Intimidation can occur from many elements, sometimes the other members might appear unapproachable, and sometimes other members can act like jerks and point out other non-seasoned members and make fun of how they’re doing it wrong instead of helping. There are countless scenarios that stack up against a new fitness enthusiast, and while hiring a personal trainer will help acclimate to your gym, not everyone can afford a trainers. Many times there are staff or members who would be happy to help but mustering up the courage to approach someone is difficult.

As a new fitness enthusiast, especially a shy one, your best option is to empower yourself by reading and watching other lifters. Just be careful you’re watching the right lifters because many people who might appear to be in shape can still be doing it all wrong. Over time you will see these people doing the same routines day in and day out and they never seem to progress or change. They simply tread water, and by default because of the longevity they display in the gym they become permanent fixtures of truly bad examples. Use the internet and YouTube.com to find an athlete that has a body or end goal similar to yours and emulate their training techniques. Read books on proper form, and analyze your body to develop a proper diet. Then you can hit the ground running and watch yourself surpass the other seasoned gym goers with faster and better results. They will notice you, and will come up to you and ask pointers. Then you can sit back and realize the student has in fact became the teacher!