Overcoming your fear of exercise (part 4): looking silly

Up amongst the most common fears of exercise is the fear of looking silly. It is not unusual to feel self conscious or embarrassed while doing new things, in front of unfamiliar people with equipment you have never used before. I have hit my chin with the bar during an overhead press, had the weight plates slide off while squatting and trapped myself on the bench press. I have seen people fall off a treadmill, stack a box jump, bounce a medicine ball off the ground and hit them self in the nose and drop a kettlebell on their foot (no one was seriously injured and these haven't all occurred during my personal training sessions). Mistakes and accidents may occur during exercise but you don't have to fear these things happening.



(1) Feeling self conscious about looking uncoordinated, (2) feeling concerned about an accident occurring, (3) feeling out of place or like you don't fit in and (4) feeling embarrassed about trying new exercise techniques or using new equipment are completely normal concerns when just getting started with exercise. Most people have had at least one experience with exercise when they feel out of place and fear looking silly in front of other people exercising. Just like anything, the more you do it, the more comfortable you will feel. I was 15 when I started weight training in a big gym. I felt incredibly out of place amongst all the 'BIG' guys around lifting weights much heavier then I was capable of. It took quite a while before I felt comfortable but I stuck with it and as my confidence with exercise grew my concerns disappeared. I look forward to exercise and feel completely at home exercising in front of people now and so will you.

Try to keep three things in mind:

1. We all start as exercise beginners at some point and we are not born with the knowledge of how to exercise. It is expected that everyone will enter an ongoing learning experience when they start to exercise and as mentioned, mistakes will be made and accidents will occur - this is how we learn. Most people who have been training for a while will have seen these same mistakes and accidents time and time again and will have probably made them themselves.
2. It is not expected that you will look fantastic while you workout. Exercise is ugly and it should be, I wouldn't have it any other way and nor should you. Gym clothes aren't flattering, exercise movements aren't sexy and red faces aren't attractive - welcome to exercise. Everyone is there to work hard (or should be) not for a fashion show so don't be concerned with how you look, just focus on what you are there to achieve.
3. Exercise is for everyone - you can never be out of place when exercising. It doesn't matter what type of shape you are in, how much you weigh or how fit you are. All the people exercising are there for the same reasons you are and they remember what it was like to just be starting out. Everyone that has been exercising for a long time will have seen people of all shapes and sizes and fitness levels. Don't be self conscious, everyone fits in when it comes to exercise, it's important for all of us.

Here are a few tips to help ease your concerns about looking silly during exercise:

• Learn how to use exercise equipment and perform all exercise techniques correctly. This will give you the confidence to exercise without concern of looking silly.
• Train with a friend that you are comfortable with. If you feel like people are looking at you while you are exercising (they probably aren't) a training partner will take the attention off you. A training partner with more experience will also be able to show you the ropes and correct your exercise technique if you are having trouble.
• Find an un-intimidating training environment that you feel comfortable exercising in. Training amongst people that share your training philosophy, fitness goals and exercise style is often the best way to feel comfortable.

Keep these things in mind and put your fear of looking silly to rest. Always remind yourself of why you are exercising - your fitness goals are far more important than worrying about how you look while you are exercising.

The last installment in this series (part 5) will look at the fear of failure.