Everyone's gotta start somewhere...

How often have you looked on Instagram and seen images of ‘fitness people’ being, well, just faaaaabulous?

You know what I mean, right? They’re poised. They’re sexy. They’re impossibly toned. Their skin is perfect and bronzed and they don’t have a hair out of place. They are always hitting those yoga postures or absolutely nailing that mega heavy lift or performing some hugely gymnastic bodyweight workout without breaking a sweat.

Bloody irritating isn’t it?

If you’re like me, a trip to the gym will result in a sweaty face, a red nose and large, unruly tufts of grey hair escaping from beneath my cap. It’s not a pretty sight.

The point I’m making is that I believe a lot of social media and advertising is responsible for many people having unrealistic ideals and developing exercise anxiety or ‘gymophobia’; they don't want to look out of place in the gym which invariably stops them from stepping into one.

I remember the first time I went for a run, approximately 8 years ago when I first decided it was high time I got fitter. I was terrified. I was convinced all the ‘proper runners’, who moved (in my mind) like gazelles, would be looking at me and inwardly guffawing. I was slow, I didn’t have the proper gear and I felt like I could give Phoebe from ‘Friends’ a run for her money with my inelegant gait.

And the gym? I could cope with Zumba and general aerobic style classes as I’ve always had a good sense of rhythm and been a decent dancer. As my running got better and I got fitter I didn’t mind the treadmill and would give the stepper a go. But as soon as I stepped towards the resistance machines I would tense up. And the free weights area? Forget it! Lifting weights was most definitely a big no-no for me. If I tried I was convinced I’d just make a massive wally of myself in front of the big, scary, muscly men.

This is a major problem for so many people. In my experience it is mainly women but certainly not exclusively. Lots of people are scared of gyms and exercise. They are scared of hurting themselves and scared of getting it wrong and making fools of themselves and they are intimidated by the ‘gym folk’ who do the exercises perfectly and seemingly with very little effort. I’m here to tell you that this is a perfectly understandable and normal way to think and that some of us ‘gym folk’ went through all those feelings too.

I find that one of the first hurdles I have to overcome with a lot of my clients is convincing them that they do belong in the gym, that everyone isn’t looking at them and that, with a bit of guidance and practise, they will be able to lift that weight or do that press up. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a client say “oh, I’d never be able to do that”. I also can’t tell you what pleasure it gives me when they do whatever 'that' is for the first time and I see the look of surprise and delight on their faces. Priceless.

So the next time you see someone nailing that lift or perfecting that posture, remember they might have been an anxious exerciser once. Tell yourself “I’d like to be able to do that one day” and know this…

…you probably will.

#fitness #health #gym #confidence