the “judgment-free zone.”
I’ve always felt self-conscious in the gym. I’ve never really been in great shape, I get winded fairly easily, and most of my free-weight exercises range from lifting 3-20 lbs (depending on the muscle group). Planet Fitness can call themselves a “judgment-free zone” all they like, but I believe it is still only human beings they accept as members. They may give some of us too much credit.
I could never help but feel like everyone was watching me jump on the treadmill, start desperately panting after 25 seconds (Goddamn, a minute is a long time to run), and step off after the hardest workout of my life… 5 minutes later… and thinking to themselves, “Wow, what a p&#*y.” (For the record, I hate that word.) I mean, isn’t there some guaranteed minimum of fitness and endurance for a 23-year-old non-smoker?
I brought this up to B – my extremely fit, marathon-running workout buddy/trainer – who corrected me in saying people are probably thinking the exact opposite. I’m doing low-impact exercises for minimum time and am still clearly pretty skinny. “She must be doing something right.” Obviously, as I’ve mentioned in a previous post, fitness is judged by size. Which is ridiculous, because I am far from fit (yet) and we all know my size is does not come from working out. This results in my still feeling like I am being negatively judged.
On the contrary, maybe no one’s judging me at all. B also likes to often tell me, “get over yourself.” People may not even be paying attention to me in the gym. Once this realization hit, I realized my workouts have been going smoother. There’s something to be said for focusing on your own fitness training and no one else(’s). If that’s not motivation for tuning out the thoughts of other people’s.. thoughts.. I don’t know what is.
B said:
Jan 22, 10 at 12:02 pmI think that’s good general advice for life. “Get over yourself” I tell it to myself daily. And I’m flattered you consider me “extremely fit”… I’m not sure I’m that generous with myself. It’s a never ending improvement process. Glad the workouts are getting easier!
Jessie said:
Jan 22, 10 at 3:39 pmI’m absolutely the same way. I have about zero physical fitness and I always feel so self conscious exercising in front of people. I just have to keep reminding myself that the only one who cares that much about what I’m doing is me. Other people really just probably don’t care.
tra said:
Jan 24, 10 at 8:37 pmi bet tons of people are NOT looking at you at all! props to running in the gym! and who cares how much you’re running! no one cares…and no one should care! keep doing what you’re doing. and don’t give a fuck about those other gym rats. =D
Emmy said:
Jan 24, 10 at 10:27 pmb, how can you run a marathon and not think you’re “extremely fit?” you don’t give yourself enough credit. maybe you’re *too* over yourself.
tra, i don’t know who you are. but you’re awesome
Amy Kerns said:
Feb 05, 10 at 2:41 amHey its Amy from Margs! I work at Planet Fitness in Dedham now. I can promise you, nobody is watching you work out. A lot of times people run on the treadmill for 5 minutes to warm up before they lift weights. Women are supposed to lift smaller weights but with high amounts of repetition. So by the sound of it, what you’re doing at the gym sounds completely legit and dont feel self conscious. Are you at the one in Waltham? The one in Dedham is really diverse with people from all sizes, ages and fitness levels. If you need a workout buddy let me know! I cant run much more than 5 minutes either and I work at a gym haha. Hope all is well, I love your blog! I think its sending a really great message btw. LOVE!
Emmy said:
Feb 06, 10 at 10:54 pmOk, um, wicked cool to hear from you. Where are you living right now? I’m glad you hit up my blog!
Glad to hear about your new job, too. Yeah, I’m loving PF. It’s perfect for my current lifestyle. And $10? Seriously. But yeah, I’ve gotten beyond that. Everyone’s there doing their own thing. If anything, I should be self-conscience about being this twiggy girl in the weight room benching 45 lbs and surrounded by the beefy men benching 3x my body weight, haha. But, even that, I figure what I’m doing is fairly respectable and trying to work up. I’m pretty proud of what I do there.
Yes, I go to the one in Waltham. Can you go to any gym? You should come hit this one up one night! My gym buddy can’t always make it. Let me know what your schedule’s like!
Hope you keep reading
We’ll catch up later!