Ever since I could remember, I’ve always been intimidated by going to the gym. I felt like I would stand out since I wouldn’t know what I was doing there with all the different machines. Not only that, but knowing that everyone there would be staring at me while I worked out? No, thank you! That is until a dear friend of mine invited me to the gym for the first time the other day. At first I was a bit skeptical, but after knowing that I wasn’t going to be alone I didn’t think twice about it. I took the opportunity to give the gym a chance.
My first time wasn’t what I expected. I thought I was going to feel out of place, but everyone’s more focused on their own workout than everyone around them. Of course, there might be some awkward eye contact and the occasional glimpses, but I felt that within the gym culture everyone sticks to themselves, which was a complete relief considering I thought I was going to be stared down for being the newbie!
Not only that, but going with my friend motivated me to go to the gym by myself. They had already shown me how to use most of the equipment, so I felt like I could go alone after we went to the gym together for a week. Of course, there will be times that you might embarrass yourself because you used a machine wrong or you drew attention to yourself when you let go of a heavy weight and it made a loud noise, but you simply laugh it off and continue to do your workouts.
Going to the gym alone is nice, but going to the gym with someone you know makes the whole experience even better. Especially when you can enjoy their company and pass the time! All in all, I feel like I share my first time at the gym with many others, and I hope that telling my own experience can make other people new to the gym be open to try it despite what they’ve heard about it.