How to Conquer Fear of the Gym

By EDWARD M. EVELD, MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

Gymphobia: an irrational fear of the gym. Or maybe not so irrational. Many a prospective exerciser wants to start a gym-based exercise routine, but quite a few can’t get past the anxiety of showing up.

Why? There’s plenty to give one pause about exercising in public. People are self-conscious, of course, unthrilled about looking like a dork around unfamiliar equipment, wary of what the other patrons will be like.

Sarai Speer knows all those feelings. A fit 125 pounds, she started hitting a gym in Kansas City, Mo., regularly a little more than two years ago. She once weighed 210 pounds and for about a year was stuck at 160.

Well worth the effort

“I remember those days,” Speer said. She wore oversized sweatshirts and long pants, refusing to peel off a layer no matter how much she sweated. She avoided certain pieces of equipment so as not to expose herself as a novice.

Now? Speer can’t wait to go to the gym several times a week and even substitutes as the leader of a fitness class.

Here are suggestions to prevail over symptoms of gymphobia:

1. Sample: Find a health club where you’ll feel most comfortable by sampling several. Pay for one day, get a trial membership, or just take a tour with a staff person. Do you see other people who are more or less at your fitness level? Is the staff personable, approachable?

2. Help: To get started, ask a staff person to help you become familiar with the equipment and to offer ideas for starting an exercise routine. Or hire a personal trainer for a few sessions. It’s not weird; a lot of people do this. A trainer can help you set realistic goals, small steps at a time, which will keep you going back.

3. Ease in: Still can’t get out the door for the trek to the gym? Promise yourself you’ll stay for just 10 or 15 minutes at the start. Eventually you’ll feel more at ease and want to stay longer.

4. Crowd control: Go when the gym is less crowded, such as very early or late. As with No. 3, this is a good way to ease into exercising in public.

5. Friends: Recruit a friend as a gym partner. You’ll feel less like a stranger in a strange land with someone else along, and you and your partner can hold each other accountable for showing up. Choose someone around your fitness level.

6. Same sex: For women who don’t relish exercising with men, try a women-only health club.

7. Rewards: Talk to yourself about how, ultimately, your plunge into public exercise will be well worth it: Not only will you get more fit, but you’ll also draw energy and collect exercise ideas from others at the gym.

(c) 2007 Record, The; Bergen County, N.J.. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.