I envy people who can just put on their running shoes and head out the door without hesitation or those who can hop on a treadmill at the gym in front of other people. I got spoiled at home. I had a treadmill and weight rack in the garage, and if I wanted to run, there were several trails near my house where I could run without seeing another person. Now that I’m at college, I’ve had to adjust to say the least.
I’ve spoken to many friends and many of them struggle with this “gym anxiety” as well. When I ask them what it is that makes them anxious, a lot of them say it’s their fear of being judged. It makes total sense. No one wants to be judged for not running fast enough or not lifting enough weight or presenting the proper form at the gym. It’s not the working out part that makes my anxiety flare up, it’s the working out in public part. Just the thought of running near people who can see my sweaty flushed face and hear my labored breathing is enough to turn me off from running. I won’t even get started on the idea of people seeing me squat at the gym.
I love working out and I love the feeling of satisfaction that I get after doing so. That is definitely not something I’m willing to give up in order to please my anxiety. After some long contemplation, I realized that if I’ve never paid attention to the people working out around me (unless it was to admire their cute workout attire), what makes me think anyone else would be criticizing the way I look while working out? Odds are, people are too preoccupied thinking about their own grind to even think about the way you look while exercising. But, I know it’s not that simple and there are new steps I’ve taken that I’ve found have reduced that nagging gym anxiety.
It does still take some mental preparation, I will admit. I end up leaving my room to go on my run, about an hour after I planned to because it takes me a bit of time to hype myself up. Preparation goes a long way; knowing exactly where I’m running gives me an endpoint to focus on while I run. Having a specific workout plan mapped out, prevents you from wasting time at the gym while you figure out what to do. And, knowing what you want to do makes you look like you know what you’re doing (even if you don’t). Starting the workout is the hardest part. It’s easy to let anxiety overwhelm you when you’re sitting still and overanalyzing your worries. Oftentimes, you just need to rip the Band-Aid off and get to that starting point. Once you’re there, you realize that you’re working out for you and that really, no one gives a f**k about what you look like when you’re working out, so you might as well get out there and do it.