I want to talk about a silly, Urban Dictionary word with a very real meaning behind it: gymtimidation.
I’ve heard some people talking crap in recent weeks since Planet Fitness announced they were coming to town, and I’m beginning to lose my patience. Just because it’s not geared toward giant, muscly, sweating, grunting men in tiny cut-off T-shirts doesn’t mean it’s not a “real gym.”
I have struggled with my weight for years, going so far as to starve myself at one point, and I can say with some degree of certainty that walking into a gym as an out-of-shape woman can be a gut-wrenching, palm-sweating experience.
I was talking to a friend from work just the other day that said she doesn’t even feel comfortable going into the weight room at the Rec Center.
Nothing is scarier than a chick, in a sports bra and tiny shorts with a six-pack giving you sideeye in your sweatpants and baggy t-shirt while you try and figure out a new exercise machine.
Beyond that, we have all seen pictures of overweight people at the gym, or people who don’t know how to correctly use a piece of equipment being mocked on social media.
It’s horrible because that person is just trying to better themselves, and it shouldn’t happen but it does.
This Tuesday I am going to work out with a couple of friends for the first time in a while and, even though I’m not going alone, I’m still a little apprehensive.
This is a real thing that people struggle with and if you’re rolling your eyes at this article, you are probably part of the problem.
Click here for last week’s Chat with the Chief focused on introverts.