We can all become strong, flexible, and aerobically fit without ever setting foot in a health club—but health clubs offer relatively easy and convenient places for developing those aspects of physical fitness. After all, they have weights to lift for strength; yoga and other classes for flexibility; and cardio machines such as spin bikes, treadmills, rowing machines, and stair climbers to help build endurance and stamina. There are also such a variety of classes offered by the modern health club—most of them led by inspiringly attractive instructors—that just about anyone with the slightest motivation to exercise should be able to find at least one, if not several, activities to enjoy.
The simple act of stepping into a health club helps define a fixed period of time as training time. If one plans to train at home or in the park, it’s relatively easy to become distracted and end up not exercising. Chances are pretty good, though, that once you get into a health club, you are going to train. If you can get yourself there daily or every other day, you are going to train enough to get fit, healthy, and strong.
Many people realize that the health club is the place they need to be, but are reluctant to get started. Part of the problem for many is confusing health clubs (fun places full of cool things to do or stuff to use for getting healthy) with gyms (identical-looking places full of monstrously muscled people and scary-looking machines). Are you one of the millions of people who would like to get fit but are nervous about going to the gym? Don’t know what to wear? What to do when you get there? Afraid to look foolish or say something that marks you as a newbie? Gym phobia is not at all uncommon among people who don’t have gym experience. It’s also not so unreasonable. There are ample opportunities for getting hurt in a gym. Some of the machines are complicated and intimidating. It would be easy to look foolish doing something wrong (though if you look confident while you do it, others may think you are doing a cool new exercise). Perhaps one of the biggest disincentives to start a gym program is that usually people who need to go to the gym don’t look like people who have been going to the gym—especially if they wear the form-fitting exercise clothing that long-term gym folks tend to favor.
So how does one overcome gym phobia? First, adopt “beginners mind”: admit that one is new and ask for help. There is nothing wrong with being new. Everyone in the gym was a newbie at one time. There was a time when they didn’t know a “set” from a “rep” or what a “1-RM” was. They didn’t know a “Smith rack” from a “squat cage” or an “Olympic bar” from a “PowerBar.” It’s okay to start out in baggy sweats. Within a few weeks or months of visiting the gym regularly, one can easily pick up all the jargon, develop a routine, start to show some muscle, and begin to blend in. Then other new people will start asking the former newbie for help, and the circle is complete.
Most gyms even have nutritionists and personal trainers on hand just for teaching beginners what to eat, how to use the machinery, and any necessary jargon, in a comfortable one-on-one relationship. With the guidance of such a personal trainer, one can even learn to do safe, effective workouts without talking to any of the gym-rats or peacocks strutting about.
So, if you want the benefits that come from working out at the gym, but have been nervous about getting started, just admit that you are ignorant and go get yourself informed. If weights are not for you, try the cardio equipment, or take a fitness class. Every journey starts with a single step or lift.
Photo courtesy of Christian Robertson
