Yesterday, I was the one of the only girls on the weight lifting side of the gym.
When I first started working out, my college had two different floors, the bottom level was the weight lifting floor and upstairs had cardio equipment and other machines. I used to call it “the girls floor” and “the guys floor.” When I transferred to my new school, everything was on one floor and there is not much of a division between the weight lifting area and the cardio area. For a whole semester, I was too scared to go to the gym because the guys would be able to see me.
For a while, I went to the gym only at hours where there would not be people there to watch me workout. It was not until a few weeks ago that I got over my fear. Now I try to encourage everyone to get out of their comfort zone at the gym.
As I was one of the few girls yesterday, I noticed myself getting side tracked. I was doing an upper body workout and I am going to be honest, I have a long way to go when it comes to my upper body strength. But as I became increasingly more aware of the fact that I was one of the only girls, I noticed the huge weights the guys were lifting besides me. And I got embarrassed. And then I got mad at myself, why was I embarrassed? I was there working my booty off to make myself a better me.
The things that helped me conquered my fears of going over to “the guys side”
1. Honestly, no one is paying attention to you.
2. EVERYONE is sweating, it is not just you.
3. It is not “the guys side,” it is for everyone, and yes, that includes YOU.
4. You’re doing this for you, not for anyone else.
5. Someone might be able to lift more weight and do more reps but you are killing the game and doing what is best for you.
So join me and stop comparing yourself to other people at the gym, and let loose. Keep working out, break a sweat, do a couple hip thrusts among all the guys.
So to all you girls out there that go to the weight lifting side, keep doing you sister. You’re killing it and you deserve to be here.
