Hi!
I'm sitting here, a bright red, sweaty mess having just gotten back from the gym and I thought now would be the perfect time to write a blog post... TMI?
Every time I go to the gym I have a bout of anxiousness before I go, worrying about all the issues I have with actually going to the public sweat box.
I don't particularly care about losing weight, it would be an awesome bonus but that's not my main reason for going to the gym. I go to be fit and healthy. It usually makes me feel better about myself too if I'm having a shit day. However, I always worry about the kind of people that are already at the gym because, nine times out of ten, everyone I see at the gym looks like they're already as fit and healthy as they're going to get and they're just there to maintain it, which is fine, but I always worry about the fact that I'm not going to fit in (which is a stupid worry, may I add).
So before I go to the gym, everything bad that could possibly happen runs through my head.
1.
Everyone's going to be watching me... They're not, but that's what my brain convinces me is going to happen.
In reality, they're too busy getting on with their own workout (the whole reason everyone is there!) than bothering with me. As far as they're concerned, I'm just another person at the gym. I still have the same panic every time though.
2.
I'm going to go bright red and get horribly sweaty.
You have no idea how long it took me to convince myself that this is natural. Everyone gets sweaty and most people go bright red, whether it's their face, arms, legs, or all three - it happens. Apart from those few lucky people who appear normal throughout their entire workout; I envy these people. A lot. In my mind though, the redder and sweatier I am, the harder I'm working (because, trust me, I go fire engine red; it's not a flattering shade). It took me a long time to come to this realisation and it's gross, but true.
3.
Clumsiness.
I'm so clumsy it's unreal and I always have this little niggling feeling that something stupid is going to happen to me, like I'm going to fall off the treadmill, or my foot's going to slip on the cross-trainer. None of this has happened yet. I've kind of come round to the reality that it will one day but until that day I really need to stop worrying about it.
4.
All the different machines are scary.
Yes, I'm aware of how weird and slightly pathetic this sounds and maybe not all of them are scary but a lot of them can be. I usually stick to the cross-trainer, treadmill and rowing machine but sometimes I want to try something different and I'm too scared to, in case I have no idea what I'm doing when I get on it and look like an idiot. There are people at the gym who are trained and are supposed to help you with this kind of thing when you ask but I'm always too scared to ask them... Way to go, Katie.
5.
Weights.
I really, really, really want to get into using the weights because I'm not the strongest of people, I'm not weak either but it's something I should probably work on. There's normally a mass of guys with huge arms (HUGE) surrounding them though and that just puts me off because; one, I don't want to get in the middle of a group of guys just to use them; two, I'm not entirely sure how to use them and the last thing I want is them all watching me or, even worse, offering to help, my body can't deal with that kind of embarrassment.
I'm not the biggest gym-goer and I'm not going to say "ooh, I love getting up everyday and going to the gym" because I don't. I love my bed and books too much. That bit in the movie Pitch Perfect, where Fat Amy does her horizontal running is perfect to me - why can't we just all do that all the time! However, once I get to the gym, I do genuinely enjoy it. It's something to do with serotonin levels being increased by exercise or something like that - my biology knowledge is not amazing but I'm pretty sure I learnt that at school once.
I'll get over my issues with the gym one day but until that day I'll carry on having my mini panic about those gym things before I go!
Katie x
