Feel anxious at the thought of stepping into a gym? If you've ever felt intimidated or self-conscious about setting foot into your local gym, you're not alone! It's very common, and can make it very difficult to participate in or enjoy exercise.

What triggers it?

This is a form of social anxiety that flares up when you think about going to the gym or physically enter the space. There can be a number of causes that trigger it including:

• Being around a lot of people and/or strangers
• Entering an unfamiliar space
• Not knowing what you're doing or how to use the equipment
• Having to compete
• Doing a task that's difficult or out of your comfort zone
• Having to change your clothes in front of others
• Comparing yourself to others who are working out
• Feeling self-conscious that others are watching or judging you
• Feeling like you don't belong in that environment
• Fear of failure

This doesn't just apply to an indoor gym environment - it could also occur with bootcamps, private training or coaching, in sports, or even school physical education classes.

Strategies to deal with gym anxiety

If you're concerned about it, consider seeing a professional such as a counsellor to help you create an action plan for your individual triggers. If that's not an option for you, some things that could help include:

1. BE PREPARED

Make it as easy as possible to get out your door and arrive at the location. If your clothes aren't laid out and you need to pack a bag or spend time getting ready, it's easy to procrastinate with all the potential thoughts of the situation ahead.

2. FIND YOUR COMFORT ZONE

If one of your triggers is intense exercise that gets you sweaty and makes you feel uncomfortable, give yourself the permission to do low impact exercise instead. If you dislike the feeling of doing weights, choose cardio activities like the treadmill or stationary bike. If you don't like being in the front row of a group class, make sure you get there early enough to secure a spot at the back. If you feel overwhelmed with the space on the gym floor, get yourself a good pair of noise cancelling headphones and put on your favourite music, then try to focus on what's directly in front of you.

As your fitness improves and you 'practice' being in that space simply by showing up and becoming more familiar with the feeling of it, you might find that your tolerance of it gets better and you feel more comfortable moving into other activities.

3. ADDRESS NEGATIVE THOUGHTS

Have a real think about what it is that makes you feel uncomfortable about entering the gym. It may be just one thing, it may be everything in the list above. For every trigger that you have, write down a way to turn it around.

For example, if you get anxious about it being an unfamiliar space, the only way it's going to become familiar is to keep going there.

If you compare yourself to others training who are fitter or stronger, know that they had to start somewhere too, and they likely had to work hard and do exactly what you're doing then build on it to get there. They're just further down the timeline.

If you feel like an activity is too difficult or you're getting too anxious, know that you can always just stop and walk out the door. Then either do a different activity next time, or aim to spend a few minutes longer on that same activity the next time. Resilience is built through practice, but also know that if the gym space isn't for you, you have the power to choose a different exercise alternative instead; small group training with a personal trainer, getting a gym instructor to give you a programme to follow, or home-based workouts may help with your confidence so you can exercise more comfortably.

4. FOCUS ON YOUR POSITIVES

Why did you start going to the gym in the first place? There must be a pretty good reason for you to head down to the gym, take the time to sign up, and make your payments. Come back to your 'why' and remind yourself why you're going to all this trouble.

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