I feel really intimidated (not so much by the people here) that have been at the gym for a while. I have always been nervous about exercising in front of others and always have had a problem with comparing myself to others and letting it be detrimental if I am ''less than." I read a good post about not comparing yourself to others but it still is hard when I can see these absolute tanks doing workouts with ease that I could probably only do one rep of. It makes me feel like I missed out these last couple of years, like I could have been there with you guys. I have plenty of life ahead of me but it’s definitely something that stays on my mind regardless.

I used to play a lot of sports years ago (both through organized teams and recreationally) and was very lean/muscular. A few years ago I kinda snapped and lost the passion for everything; and my physical health has worsened since then. I am by no means fat but I have packed on some weight and lost that strength/stamina I had. I don’t like it.

It’s hard, but it’s not like walking up 5 flights of stairs to get to work hard. It’s a walking up 5 flights to a nice meal, happy brain chemicals and personal reward type of hard and it is helping me feel much better than I was. I hope to get involved in this community more and thanks for inspiring me, everyone

  • loathesome dongeater
    6•2 years ago

    To give you the other perspective, I used to silently judge people while I was at the gym. Later I ended up hurting my knee and my back. This was two years ago but I am still debilitated. At first I thought this was because of bad luck, but it is more likely because of bad form, bad warmup or something else. I still don’t know.

    Bottom line is that sometimes, not always, people who judge don’t know shit. I had been lifting for five years prior this.

    Moreover you sbould not care if people judge. It’s easier said than done but it’s true nonetheless. You exercise for yourself and not to please others.

    I bet if you are able to power through the sense of embarrassment you’ll find it to not be a problem after. The first steps are always the hardest.