Overcoming Gym Anxiety: Strategies for Managing Fear of Judgment
Overcoming Gym Anxiety: Strategies for Managing Fear of Judgment
Let me validate you: Starting anything as a beginner can be intimidating. We are humans, we collectively feel anxiety when being in any environment with people we assume have more experience than us. It´s normal to feel performance anxiety as beginners.
Most people have difficulty dealing with situations that trigger a sense of inadequacy, embarrassment, inferiority, or ignorance in us by default - if you mix those emotions with the high stakes of being surrounded by people that, in one’s opinion, may look stronger or “better than” us, it can be very destabilizing. Some people avoid situations like this all together. Having a beginner or learner´s mindset will help, but let´s be honest, the gym can be a very frightening environment at first. We fear being judged, being criticized, being ridiculed. This is very normal and we would like to validate your sentiment, but, at the same time, this is not where we would like you to stay.
Here are some tips to help gym anxiety for beginners. Don´t worry, this anxiety doesn´t usually last! But the start can be difficult, and we would hope that these tips can help you pass the initial hesitation that could keep you from a long lasting amazing relationship with one of the best tools towards physical health we have, which is strength training at the gym!
1. Self assessment and identifying your triggers
What is it about the gym that you are afraid of? Can you name it? Being able to identify the specific problems will allow you to better find suitable tools to help those triggers. Not everybody will be afraid of the same things. Some people feel shame around the way their body looks, others feel shame around not being able to lift heavy weights. Some people feel like they will be judged by people with more experience, others are more anxious about getting hurt by lifting something with improper form. Are you afraid of germs? Are you afraid of crowds? Are you afraid of mirrors? Are you a woman fearing the possible male-dominated weight room? Take some time before stepping into the gym to do some self assessment via imagining yourself stepping into the gym and journaling about it.
2. Information
Information can help. If you´re someone that likes doing research, try to get yourself acquantained with as much information as you can: how big is the gym? What times of the day is this gym less crowded? What machines do you have available there and what do they do? Are there any anemities you need? Classes? Information can help boost your confidence and give your mind something specific and important to focus on instead of spiriling.
3. Make sure you bring everything you may or may not need
The last thing you need is to pair your anxiety with lack of preparation. Making sure you have a well packed gym bag with all the goodies you need can help you in a moment of need. Snacks, water, a change of clothes, towels, headphones…try to think of everything you could possibly use to help you in this process and make sure you go prepared.
4. Have a way out
Sometimes having a way out is super important for anxious people. The last thing you need is to feel like you´re stuck in a place you are freaking out about with nowhere to go. If you need to go home after 15 minutes, so be it! Make sure you can always have access to means of transportation to leave whenever you need to and don´t push yourself past your limit. Go close to your edge but never all the way there. It´s perfectly ok to start slowly in the beginning. Over time, as you feel more and more comfortable, you will be able to stay for longer. Challenging yourself without going past your edge is the way to stretch your comfort boundaries.
5. Have support
Do you have a friend with gym experience that can make you company? Do you have a trainer that can make a training program for you? Do you have an online buddy that can support you from a distance? Are you someone who would feel more comfort being in a group class setting than a individual gym session? All this matters. Find your people and ask for support!
6. Visualization
Visualization is a very well known tool that can help creating any new habits. The mind plays an immensely interesting role here. Find a comfortable spot and some open time in your schedule, sit down after gathering all your information, and go over all the steps, tracing one by one what you´d do from getting ready to go to the gym, working out, leaving, and coming back home. Try your best to stick to real possibilities instead of spiriling in the worst possible scenarios. If your mind tries to imagine really bad circumstances, challenge yourself to find solutions to those circumstances. This can also help troubleshooting situations before they arise. Visualization is a great way to create a ritual around working out and start habit forming this new activity into your schedule as well as lessen the anxiety around it. Check in with yoruself always, if you think your anxiety is incapable of reaping benefit from this, stop. This is but a tool. There are many others!
7. Ditch comparison/put your blinders on
The fact of the matter is, most people are looking at themselves in the mirror, not at each other. I know this is a hard truth to accept but it is the truth. They are looking at themselves, their bodies, their exercise form. They´re listening to their own music and sweating their own sweat. This is not a rule of course, but generally speaking, most people go to the gym with blinders on: and so should you! Try not to bother yourself with others just as they are probably not even noticing what you are doing.
8. Distract yourself
If you´re planning on doing cardio for 30 minutes, would bringing a portable video-game console help distract you? Do you like listening to music? If so, have your downloaded yoru best songs, just in case you don´t have connection? Bring something that will distract you from what you are afraid of! And as always: plan ahead.
9. Cute clothes can help! And so can positive reinforcement
Sometimes doing a little bit of pre-workout and post-workout self care can help immensely. If you feel better when putting cute gym clothes on, why not give yourself a little boost of confidence before stepping into the gym? Some people wear light makeup (taking into consideration a certain level of sweat) - could that be your war paint? Don´t feel weird about it! If you finished your workout, regardless of how successful or not you think you may have been, don´t you think that a little treat could positively reinforce you and reward you for pushing yourself? Go to a nice coffee shop after your session or take a cute picture of yourself. Pat yourself in the back as you would do to a friend. Remember: self love is a more sustainable way towards change than self shame.
10. Manage expectations and keep going
Last but not least, never underestimate the power of managing expectations. Nobody starts anything perfectly and without hiccups. Nobody. Why would you be any different? It´s ok to have a hard time at first. It´s ok to have a shorter session at first. It´s ok to freak out a little bit at first. It´s ok. Don´t set yoruself up for failure by setting unrealistic expectations for yourself. You´re a beginner and that´s totally ok! Everybody started exactly where you are at. The only difference is that they kept going. So keep going. Push yourself a little bit, give yourself mercy to make mistakes, don´t expect perfection. Just show up. Day after day. Before you know it, you could be helping someone else who is beginning in the same journey as you are doing now. It´s a beautiful full circle.
We hope these tips help you in your journey and remember, if you need more support around training, splits, and all these technical matters, we are available to you. Reach out to our team at Eat Run Lift and we can help build a program that will take some of the weight off of your shoulders when starting to train.
All the best of luck in your journey!
Hey there, I’m Rachel!
NUTRITIONIST, PERSONAL TRAINER, WELLNESS COACH
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While we make every effort to make sure the information in this website is accurate and informative, the information does not take the place of medical advice.