It seems as if every year everyone’s New Year resolution is to be healthier. Even though there’s nothing necessarily wrong with this, it’s a broad statement that can mean a lot of things. I am guilty of having this resolution every year, but time after time, I have struggled to keep it. A big barrier for me is creating excuses as to why I could not better myself, especially when I mess up with my goals even once. My other biggest barrier is fear. Fear has held me back from a lot in my life but my biggest fear on my wellness journey was the gym. The gym, specifically the weight room, felt so daunting and unwelcoming to me. I wanted so badly to not feel this way and it took me years to overcome this barrier in my life. I eventually realized that I wanted more for my workouts than just cardio, but this meant I had to overcome my weight room fear. Since I have struggled with trying to overcome this, especially in the beginning, I wanted to share a few ways I managed to stick with the weight room.
Mindset
The biggest step I took in this process was changing my mindset. The gym isn’t something that has to be 100% or nothing. Just showing up and doing your best, even if it’s not as good as the day before, is still major progress. The most important part of mindset is determining your “why.” Your “why” is what is going to help you stay disciplined when you are not motivated. For example, my “why” was to better myself and ensure that I feel the best I can every day. Knowing that I am doing it for myself and not the validation of others has helped me stick with it. Having a good attitude is very important for your improvement. Working out for me turned from a chore to my favorite part of my day when I changed my mindset.
Give yourself Grace
Like many good things in life, the results will not come instantly. This is usually what gets people discouraged and creates a negative connotation for the gym. Even if your starting point is waking up earlier to go, that’s a huge accomplishment. Don’t overlook the small victories or be too hard on yourself. When you’re too hard on yourself, it can cause you to feel discouraged when you should be proud of yourself for the taking this step for yourself.
Discipline > Motivation
In the past, I looked for gym motivation on social media. Although this isn’t a bad thing, especially because I have learned so much from it, something I realized is that motivation should not be your only driving factor. I used to be jealous of their consistency and say to myself, “I wish I could do that for myself” without realizing that they are driven by discipline and not motivation alone. Discipline is the key to consistency, and in my opinion, the most difficult part of the gym is showing up. Once you show up, you cannot “lose” progress, you can only better yourself further. However, this is not me saying that every day is going to be better than the previous, but the days you do not want to go are the most important days for you to show up.
Creating a Routine
When I began to tackle the weight room, I always felt so overwhelmed and lost. This is because I did not take the time to do research before on different muscle groups. I learned that each muscle group has a certain day in your “split”. Your “split” is a workout routine (usually around
5 days) that repeats once it’s completed. Having a split has helped me stay consistent because I know what I’m walking into before each workout. In the beginning, I had a hard time learning the machines, but watching YouTube videos on how to work the machines helped me tremendously. Another great option for that is asking someone for help at the gym. As intimidating as it sounds, it’s super helpful, and the people are always willing to help because they were in a beginning position at one point as well.
Although the gym is an intimidating place, it has helped my mental and physical health tremendously. By adding weights to my workout routine, I have gained confidence and strength that have helped me in my everyday life in and outside the gym. I hope my tips encouraged you to realize that it really isn’t as scary as it seems. Your biggest barrier is you, and I encourage everyone to give the weight room a try if they can.