The gym has always been associated with strongness, muscles, hard work, and ambition, which for some reason are seen as traits that show masculinity. The gym is of course a male-dominated area. But in today’s times where outward beauty greatly predicts quality of life due to the absurdly high and difficult-to-achieve beauty standards shown in media, everyone has been motivated to work out and be in shape.
Only this semester did I get the courage to start going to the gym. I am still a total newbie. Everything looks intimidating, from the sheer amount of people in the evening, to the number of types of exercises. Going alone is an even scarier experience. But once I started doing it (not consistently to be honest but still 3-4 days a week is a good start) I started feeling so good, mentally, physically, and emotionally. It made me be more productive, healthier, and more cheerful. Gym in a way is very therapeutic. It gives you a medium to let your feelings go, and not get emotionally drained by unnecessary socializing, makes you more connected with your body, become stronger, and all in all, makes you feel more secure and confident in how you look.
My Instagram for you page is now filled with gymtoks as expected (shh, google can hear you). Even when I’m thinking of skipping a day I will for sure get a lot of motivating gymbros on my screen screaming at me to get up and work out. This whole community of gym-related influencers and meme pages has made the gym very appealing and approachable as well.
It can be extremely nerve-racking for a person, let alone a person with social anxiety, to go to the gym. A person, mostly women, will get looks no matter what they wear. So going with a strict mindset of completing your workout and not getting affected by the looks is a necessity. I have a few times left in the middle of my workout just because I couldn’t handle the number of people there. Once during the afternoon, I had to share a machine with 7 other people!!
There’s been a stigma of women lifting weights as well. People think muscles on women are unattractive and make them less feminine. And statistically, women have majorly gone to the gym for cardio, rather than strength training. Though now I see this changing as young women have been inclined to lift weights and find joy in growing strong and muscular. It takes dedication and mental agility to do this. But there’s still a long way to go for the gym to be perceived as a place for women to become healthier and stronger.
As a newbie, these are some suggestions that might help you navigate through the gym-
- Exercises: Firstly, the trainer will be your biggest help and will make you exercise plans, tell you the correct forms, and the number of repetitions and sets. You can make customizations according to your goals and preferences as you settle into a routine. I personally watched a lot of YouTube videos of fitness influencers where they shared a week of different workouts, and I made my workouts accordingly.
- Necessities: Take a bottle of water, a hand towel, earphones, and pump cover(a jacket or overshirt basically to help sweat more) if needed.
- Timing: Going in the morning or around noon is generally preferable because it will be the least crowded and the most peaceful.
- Diet: Get ready to eat a lot of protein, and I mean an enormous amount. That is the only way you will see any progress in your body. And try to have a clean diet, with a lot of greens, good fats, and supplements if needed, and restrict junk food.
- Music: Make or search for a nice playlist beforehand with some fast bops to keep you motivated and your heart rate up.