How to start training when you don’t want to walk through the gym door

A guide to getting comfortable in the gym

The gym can be intimidating, particularly when starting at a new facility or returning after a while out of the gym. Whilst we know deep down that no one else is worried about what we are doing, it’s normal to feel self-conscious during those first sessions.

If we don’t overcome these hesitancies to develop a routine early, it becomes easy to fall away from the program and stop going to the gym. This is common and explains why 40% of gym members train less than 10 times yearly.

I understand the intimidation. On the one hand, I’m probably the person people are intimidated by when they go in. But on the other hand, I still get that myself. I did an eight-week powerlifting training course in 2015 and was nervous about attending the first few sessions. I wasn’t sure if my technique was up to their standard (it wasn’t, but that what why I was there) and didn’t want people who’d read my articles thinking I was less strong than they thought.

Even moving gyms at the end of 2021, it took a little while to get a lay of the land and feel comfortable in the new training environment. And I well and truly know that other people don’t care what I am doing.