Over 50 Mindset Training – Stop Giving in to Gym Dread

Gym dread can be experienced by anyone, even the older adults. You can add this to their endless lists of excuses, among which is being weak, fear of sustaining injuries and being too old for exercise. You don’t have to dread the gym. The following are usually reasons why you dread the gym:

Going to the gym alone
You feel too heavy
You have probably been hurt while working out before
The gym is boring for you
Not knowing how to use the equipments
Not seeing the result you want
You don’t feel confident about your body
Not having time to clean up after workout
Not having the right gear
‘unfit security’

So, what is your own reason for dreading the gym? Find it and let’s deal with it.

Consider your motivations

This is one of the best ways to overcome gym dread. All motivation are not created equally. So, you need to re-visit your reason for going to the gym. Most motivations aren’t strong enough. Some people decide to work out or start visiting the gym because an authority figure in the fitness industry told them to, everybody is doing it or someone complained about the way I look.

Although these are enough reasons for you to be motivated to start exercising but for someone like you who isn’t really into a fitness centre, they are shallow reasons. This is because they are more focused on people’s expectations of you and what you are expecting from yourself.

Strong motivations are the ones that come from within you. You should want to lift weight because you want to do better at a certain sport, run on treadmill so that you can eventually be able to climb a mountain, attend yoga class just because you want to ease your anxiety and calm your mind.

These are more specific motivations, not just personal but precise. The right motivation will get you into the gym and keep you focus whenever things seem to be hard for you.

Although it is nice to conquer your fear but it will only be worth it if you are able to achieve your goals. So, if you really don’t want to go to the gym, you could try some bodyweight exercise from Over 50 Fit programs.

Get rid of ambiguity

You also have to get rid of ambiguity to overcome gym dread. You really are not afraid of the gym. This might be hard for you to accept but what you are really afraid of is the ambiguity. You fear not being sure of what you are doing, having to navigate through an environment you aren’t familiar with or having people look down at you.

Although these fear need to be dealt with since they are real, but when compared to the fear of entering the gym.

In order to make things better for you,

You have to much pretty much about the gym before visiting. There are something you should first know such as exactly what you plan to do when you get to the gym, the best time you can visit the gym and how you plan to train there.

Create time to read about starting strength or strong lifts. You will have better understanding of how to properly lift weight. They will also teach you how you can stay safe at the gym.

You can also hang out on online fitness communities. All these will help you learn about the kinds of mistakes you should try to avoid in the gym.

Another tip here is that you should send the gym you intend to visit a few emails to ask some questions. These questions could involve the quietest hours of the gym or any hidden fees when you want to sign-up.

You don’t want to go to the gym and aggravate the staff with trivial questions that even Google can answer, but you can take advantage of that medium to have a proper understanding of what exactly you are getting into.

Being aware of your fears is a great point to start from when you want to conquer them. This awareness might not be enough, but it is better than staying in the dark and it will go a long way to help you overcome gym dread.

Stop thinking bigger

That’s quite contrary to what you will hear from motivational gurus. I know, right? However, applying to your fitness goals as someone with gym-dread, things might not work as you want.

Ambition is great. But it can also yield result when it comes to something you are eager to do. They give you lasting motivation and energy.

You should know that being more ambitious when you are not even eager to go to the gym is not the right method to overcome gym dread because it will only increase your fear. For now, your ambition should be to go inside the gym and have fun, training in a very small way.

Starting this way will help you ensure you have an approachable goal, experience the culture of the gym and gradually, the most ambiguity parts of the gym eventually evaporates into thin air.

Having to think about doing 3 sets of squats, the deadlift and 3 sets of the bench press could all be too much for you all at the same time. So, take it slow.

Whatever you are able to achieve at the end of it all in a particular day, consider yourself a success. You don’t have to spend much time for now, because the goal for now is to get you into the gym as frequently as you possibly can be.

The kind of gym you attend can improve or worsen your gym-dread. Take you time and search for the best gyms in your area. Most of the gyms have branches in many city, so you can just start from Chula Vista.

And hey,

Don’t forget to act confident.