Good morning everyone, and as always, happy Thursday.
Have you ever heard someone say you shouldn’t feel self-conscious when you’re at the gym because in reality nobody is actually looking at you? And that nobody is paying attention to you because they are focused on what they are doing?
Well, that’s not really true.
The truth is when you are in the gym people are in fact looking at you.
Some people watch you because they want to know what you are doing.
Some people watch you because they are trying to learn from you.
And honestly, some people watch you because they are in fact judging you. (In these cases the person is often a pretty unhappy and/or insecure person and makes them feel better about themselves to look at someone and say disparaging things about them.)
Now, I’m not bringing this up to make you feel bad, or intimidated, or keep you away from the gym.
Not at all…
I’m saying this because if you feel uncomfortable and self conscious in the gym, for whatever reason, you can join the vast majority of people who have ever set foot in a gym.
But since I want to see you in the gym working hard to build a kick ass version of yourself, we need to find a way to help you feel better in the gym. (And that isn’t going to be accomplished by feeding you some false line that, “you should just feel better because nobody is watching you.”)
So the key here is to find a spot in the gym where you feel as comfortable as possible.
If you feel self conscious in the gym do things like grab a treadmill in the back or on the side when you do your cardio. Or do your weight training in a spot in the gym where the fewest people can see you.
I say do whatever you need to do to help yourself feel as comfortable as possible when you’re in the gym.
I can’t tell you exactly where those spots are, but take some time to explore the gym and find the spots you feel most comfortable.
And look, I basically live in a gym and I still do this from time to time.
Why?
Because when I need to learn a complicated new exercise I don’t like struggling with the form in front of a lot of people.
So I do my best to move myself to an area that is relatively out of the way and I work on my form there.
And when someone tells me I shouldn’t feel self conscious, I just disregard his or her “advice.” I know myself and I stay true to myself.
And that is what you need to do too. Be honest about how you feel, be true to how you feel, and take the necessary steps to make yourself feel as comfortable as possible for each and every workout.
Okay, that’s it for this week.
Until next time and as always,
To our health!
Zach
