5 Tips to Handle Gym Anxiety
It is very natural feel anxious about walking into a new situation no matter what it is. This can be heightened when exercise is the new situation, we completely understand.
Our RISE coaches are aware of this and want to make every single person feel comfortable coming to their first session and joining the RISE community.
The Fear
There is probably only one person in recent memory who had absolutely zero anxiety about walking into an exercise situation, that would be Usain Bolt. Even the other guys in the race would be anxious about how Usain was going to make them look and all Usain wanted to do was enjoy himself and run fast. On one level so simple and on another so complex.
Fear of judgement by other people is a debilitating part of anxiety. Almost everyone has some sort of fear or anxiety about walking into a situation where they feel people may judge them. And exercise has this extra ‘dose’ of you are in different clothes, the environment is unfamiliar and there feels like there is no hiding place. We get it.
But how can this anxiety, which is sometimes call “Gym-timidation”, be put to one side to allow people to actually start exercising? A study by Sport England on women and activity came to this conclusion:
Fear of judgement, lacking confidence, not having enough time – our research shows there are a mix of practical and emotional pressures that stop many women from being as active as they would like.
In fact, 39% of women aged 16 and over are not active enough to get the full health benefits of sport and physical activity, compared to 35% of men.
Sport England Study
They then started the This Girl Can campaign which was a huge hit for showing people of all shapes and sizes enjoying exercise, sport and activity.
5 Tips in Handling Exercise Anxiety
Normalise
First thing is you can normalise it; gym anxiety is real and lots of people have it. When you get to a session mostly everyone either felt like you or feels like you did, and you will find a surprising amount of empathy and support from everyone.
Self-Efficacy
This is a belief in yourself that you can actually do the behaviours needed to get through an exercise session or class. Read about it here.
Research & Understand
Understand what is going to happen and talk through with the coach what the session is like and they will explain how you are likely to feel. Do not be afraid to ask questions and say I am very worried about this. They have got your back from the start.
Deep Breathing & Positive talk
When you start to feel overwhelmed try and take slow, deep breaths. Sometimes call diaphragmatic breathing this will slow you heart rate and have a calming effect on your nervous system. At the same time say to yourself, this is not too much for me, I can get through this. Some positive chat inside your head is a great way to move through some feelings of anxiety.
Educate & Celebrate
Make a list of all the good things you felt about managing to go to a session. Think carefully about how you felt and why this could be a good thing for you to keep up. Also, give yourself a pat on the back for actually going and breaking through one barrier. You got this!
How Does RISE Fit in?
We are an inclusive community at RISE. The way we use effort tracking tech and expert coaching and guidance means that everyone works at the right level. So a fit person will be in the red zone with an unfit person – you are both working at the right level and both of you can roll your eyes at the coach at the same time! Our Welcome form has the right information to allow the RISE coach to really understand your motivations, barriers to exercise and what you want out of a lifestyle change. You get a one-to-one chat before the session and also a monthly personal coaching session to keep you on track.
Why not try a RISE near you? Click here to check locations.
#exerciseanxiety #beatanxiety #outddorbootcamp
Photo by Jaqueline Fritz on Unsplash
No Comments