SPECIAL FEATURE

BE FIT AND FEARLESS!
Conquering Your Fear of Joining a Gym

It’s funny to think that the Woody Allen quip – “Eighty percent of life is just showing up.” – also applies to working out at the gym. This would explain all of those unused gym memberships, right? It’s easy to not go. We can come up with a million excuses: “There aren’t enough hours in the day,” “I’m not a morning person,” “It’s too far,” “Gas is too expensive,” blah, blah, blah! When we start coming up with excuses such as these, normally an underlying fear is the reason. Don’t let this fear prevent you from reaching your goals! I’m going to help you beat these feelings by reminding you of the amazing pros of gym membership and then blasting all those flimsy “cons”!

Pros:

Camaraderie

Being in the presence of fit, healthy people who are working toward similar goals is a huge motivator. Chances are, you will find you have more in common with your fellow gym-goers than you might have thought, and you may even find yourself making friends with the very people you feared would be judging you! People who go to fitness centers are goal-oriented, which can be very energizing and inspiring for you. Remember that many people join gyms because they need to lose weight, just like you. Just because you’re seeing them after they’ve accomplished that goal doesn’t mean they can’t relate to you.

Support

Most good fitness centers make a real effort to hire positive, friendly and supportive staff. These people can help you understand how to use the various machines and weights and will offer words of encouragement, especially when they start to notice that you’re coming in on a regular basis. At a good fitness center, staff members keep tabs on who is actually coming to the gym and working out, who shows up but spends the workout time chatting and who doesn’t show up at all. What a great way to keep you honest!

Resources

Once you start to feel comfortable at the gym, you may find that you want to take your training to a new level. If so, one of the ways you can mix things up is by trying a group fitness class. Many gyms offer everything from martial arts to Pilates to water workouts. You can also pick up lots of valuable tips from the trainers. In fact, if you find you are stuck in a rut or trying to break through a plateau, you might want to hire a personal trainer to recharge your routine, stretch your limits and help fire up your motivation.

Environment

Once you’re at the gym (Congratulations! You’re one of that 20 percent!), you have no excuse not to work out. At home, temptation abounds and it can be very easy to cut your workout short to check out what’s in the fridge, do laundry, answer the phone or catch up on the latest Hollywood gossip. Speaking of excuses, unlike exercising outdoors, working out at the gym also means that neither rain, nor sleet nor snow will hamper your workouts.

Cons:

People

You may fear going to a gym because it’s full of gorgeous fitness models and cocky beefcakes, and you feel like you don’t belong. But step back for a moment and take your personal history and emotion out of the equation. Does this preconception still seem realistic? Remember this: Gyms are for people who want to improve their health and fitness. Does this sound like you? Yes it does! You might be surprised to find out how ordinary the gym-goers actually are. And remember this, too: Most people at the gym are completely focused on themselves and what they are doing. They are paying attention to the muscles they’re working on, not you.

Fee

You will have to pay a monthly or yearly fee to join, and there may be a cost to driving there. But think of this: How much will your weight-related health issues cost you? How much did it cost you to buy fast food, sodas and the other junk that made you overweight? When I was fat, I spent a lot more money on junk food than I have since spent on my gym membership! And how much will diabetes and heart medications cost you? How much will you have to pay for your future health care when you’ve been refused insurance because of a preexisting condition? According to one study, obese Americans spend approximately 36 percent more on health care services and 77 percent more on medications than average-sized Americans.¹

Distance

Getting to the gym uses too much gas, you have to wake up earlier or come home later, it’s out of the way … all of these are excuses that you can use to convince yourself not to go, and there is some validity to them. Yes, you will have to go out of your way, or use up gas, or get up earlier or stay out later to get to the gym. You will have to change your habits. But this is good! Your habits brought you to where you are now, which is not where you want to be. Once you get used to your new habits, you will have taken a giant leap in the right direction. (And I’m willing to bet that you won’t even notice the drive!)

Fear

Your mind can paint a dreadfully dark picture of something you fear. You might be afraid of trying something new, you might be afraid of failure, you might be afraid that being in a gym environment will bring out your feelings of inferiority. Whatever your fear, you are now in a place where you can combat it. You know you have to try something new because doing the same things you’ve been doing will not bring you where you want to be. You may feel out of place at first – I sure did – but once you’ve gone a few times you won’t feel that way anymore. And if the gym brings out feelings of inferiority, then use those feelings to spur yourself on. Tell yourself you will succeed at this so you never have to feel that way again!

1. Roland Strum et al. “Obesity and Disability: The Shape of Things to Come.” Online Research Brief RB-9043-1, Rand Corporation, 2007.