As a girl new to the gym
During Covid, when everything was opening back up, my dad kept asking me to go to the gym with him. I had quit swimming during Covid; I loved it, but it was getting to be too much for me, and he saw much I missed doing a sport, so he wanted to teach me how to weight lift. The first thought that came to my head was “uhh no, definitely not,” but he kept asking, and one day I just caved and went with him. I have to admit, it was extremely intimidating, even though I went with my father. The amount of gym bros lifting insane amounts of weight genuinely made me so insecure about barely lifting my little 10 pound dumbbells. However, after every workout, I felt so good!! And, I was also bonding with my dad, which was nice because I was always closer to my mom. I ended up going alone after a while since my schedule was different from my dad’s, and to this day, I still go!
So, here’s a few tips for beginner gym girlies to overcome that gym anxiety:
- Cute gym outfits
- Putting on a cute gym outfit will increase your confidence at the gym, and also make you feel like THAT girl.
- Gymshark can be expensive, but amazon has so many good affordable athletic sets!
- Getting a good pair of headphones, preferably with noise canceling
- For me, this was extremely important because a big part of getting over that anxiety was blocking all the noise out, and pretending like I was the only one in the gym
- Make a routine that works for you
- Find out what time of the day you like to work out the most, whether early morning, mid afternoon, or late night
- For me, I love working out in the mid afternoon
- Eat a good meal before, drink your pre workout, pack your gym duffel
- Making a routine that you feel comfortable with will act as your motivation when you really don’t feel like going to the gym
- Go with friends that already go to the gym!
- Although it may seem intimidating, your friends who go to the gym would love to take you and teach you the ways around the gym!
- I always get so excited when my friends ask to come with me, and I love showing them the ropes
- Having a lifting buddy is one of the best ways to get rid of that gym anxiety
- Make a workout plan before you go
- I know my biggest fear was walking around the gym looking for machines, and other people would think that I didn’t know what I was doing
- It’s totally okay to feel this way!
- Make a workout plan before you go so you know exactly where to go and what to do
- There are so many good influencers on Instagram that provide free workout plans, and a lot of them have beginner workout routines too!
- Drink your favorite pre workout
- We all need that extra boost sometimes
- I always drink an Alani Nu energy drink before the gym because it helps keep me motivated, gives me a good pump, and I don’t crash afterward like I used to after a lot of the other pre workouts I would drink in the past