How did/do you motivate yourself to continue going to the gym despite gym anxiety, as a beginner?

8 comments

1. 1. I started with a time when the gym was mostly “empty”.

   2. YouTube videos for form + asking for help from regular people helped. I made sure to have a workout routine planned out in my notes, reps/sets everything.

   3. Acceptance that people who have the physique I want are people who were once where I am. I took that as motivation rather than embarrassment or a comparison factor!

   The end goal is worth it, so why fret about the ride 😉

2. Agree with go when it’s quiet. I often go past midnight.

   Remember that everyone is there to do their own thing and improve themselves, everyone started from zero once and no one is actually paying attention to what you’re doing

3. Started going at 5 AM to avoid the crows. I also took time watching videos of how to exercise properly and once that first month passed by, I grew more confortable so I also started wearing “cute” outfits and now I have been consistent for a year and half. Lost 25 lbs but gained so much muscles.

4. For me it’s not motivation, it’s discipline. I have a routine and I stick to it; I make it an essential part of my morning. Carve time out of your day and stick to it and it will become habit. And remember that you’re there for YOU, not for other people. And the other gym-goers are there for them as well, they’re not focusing on you they’re focusing on them.

5. I kept reminding myself of my goals and started with small, achievable workouts. Celebrating even the tiniest victories helped boost my confidence and kept me going.

6. Remind myself that everyone is there to do their own thing. While I may recognize frequent faces, I only really ever clock people that lift an obscene amount of weight that I can’t help but watch in awe for a few seconds. Beyond that, nobody is paying any mind to anybody else.

   Also, I worked with a trainer to develop my form at first. That helped a lot, along with having them write programming for me.

   The last thing that gets me to the gym is having it built into my schedule. I don’t tell myself “I am going to go to the gym four days this week.” I tell myself “I am going to go the gym on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.”

7. Reward the HABIT and focus.
   Everyone there is trying to get healthy too!
   It becomes part of my day. Skipping would be like forgetting to brush my teeth or skipping a shower.

8. Listen. You just gotta keep showing up. I practically live at the gym and the anxiety (at least about trying something new or picking back up something that you haven’t done in a while) never really goes away.

   Case in point: I haven’t done pull ups in a hot minute and I completely lost the ability to do them. So, I had to use bands to help. Just yesterday, I made a fool of myself for at least 20 mins trying to figure out how to make the stupid bands work. And I was in an area where the gym people around me were doing pull ups with extra weights and muscle ups and whatever the hell those things are called.

   Did I care about making a fool of myself? Yes. But did I also feel absolutely EXHILARATING to figure out how the bands worked and do multiple sets of assisted pull ups? Damn right it did. DAMN RIGHT IT DID.

   Everyone’s gotta start somewhere. Including the gym rats. No one is good at everything all the time.

   Also, the gym is usually full of people riding that workout high and they’re usually polite and kind if you ever need help. Xx