What do you do if you’re motivated to start working out but find yourself too intimidated to walk through the doors of your gym. In this day and age the personal trainers are just waiting to spot the newest people so they can pounce and sell their questionable services. Some might say going to they gym is intimidating at first.
- Help yourself. Like the Seinfeld episode – I’m intimidated at the mechanic. I have no idea what’s going on. Oh you need a new Johnson rod? Ok, put it in I guess. When you need help, you need someone of integrity rather than someone out to make a buck. But the gym is a different animal. People at the gym operate under the guise of “helpful” but usually offering opinions is just from the need to feel better about themselves or turn a buck. You have the “personal trainer” (aka salesman) that will comment on your form, the gym goer who knows to keep your chest up or heels down, or the steroid guy come over and spot you even though you’re using dumbbells specifically so that you can drop them if you can’t complete the rep (thus causing injury). All of which have happened to me. Really, there is no replacement for experience, but nowadays there are a myriad of online resources including YouTube videos etc. that can speed up your learning curve. At the end of the day, you’re going to the gym to better yourself. You should be encouraged rather than discouraged. Keep it up.
- Try the Crossfit onramp class. This is actually in essence the beauty of Crossfit. With a community feel to working out, and an experienced “coach” you can actually get a great workout, on your own, and at your own level without the threat of another person offering their help that isn’t really help. Most likely we don’t all move optimally, or bite off more than we can chew from time to time, but your typical globo gym doesn’t have any real interest in your improvement. A specific trainer might, but as long as you’re paying, the entity doesn’t care.
- Change your perspective and just don’t be intimidated. This is part of having a growth mindset rather than a fixed mindset. Go in there knowing that you don’t know. Know that with the right attitude you will gain the skills and strength you want. Pretending you know whats good for everyone else is not the way. Have an open mind.
- Just go to watch. Seriously just go to watch. I encourage everyone to go watch a class they’re thinking about. You’ve been putting off the class for so long. Think about it. If you go to watch, you’ve done a couple of the steps you need to actually do the class. You carved out time for yourself, you got off the couch, you met the teacher, and you got a feel for if you’d like it. Nothing wrong with scoping it out. Every good teacher would encourage this. Working out with a friend is a great way to get over the nerves of going to the gym. Finding someone with your schedule or your skill strength level could be tricky. If your friend is super experienced and you’re intimidated by that, see if you can just follow along too.
- Give someone a compliment I’ve found out more stuff than I thought possible by starting with a compliment. Wow, I wish I could do pull-ups like you. How did you get to be able to do that? You will find out. They’ll tell you. This might be opening up a can of worms to a conversation you don’t want, but at this point in your life you already know how to get out of conversations. Just get back to your workout. But using people that are good at things to give you hints is worthwhile.
- Sign up for a competition There are all kinds of competitions out there. Spartan Race, mud run, beach volleyball tournament, 5k, whatever. Sign up and hold yourself accountable. Many an achievement started with this idea. But you have to sign up, and pay the entry, and have a plan. Break it up into small sections. Ask for help. But don’t pick something you want to do. That’s a dream. Add that deadline by actually paying the entry fee and clearing your calendar. That’s a goal.
7. Email Moveplaylearnnow@gmail.com
