Last fall semester, I took a kickboxing class for my final P.E. credit. In my freshman year, I took yoga, so my second time around I wanted something a little more challenging. For context, I was a theater kid and always hated sports. I hated the team dynamic where I felt like other people relied on me to do well and I didn’t want to disappoint others. This lack of experience in group sports turned me off of the idea of working out at all. However, kickboxing class felt like the perfect opportunity to try something new. Immediately, I enjoyed the group fitness class dynamic. The only experience I had with this sort of thing was yoga, which is the complete opposite of the HITT class experience. HITT stands for high-intensity interval training, a method of getting your heart rate up through short bursts of intense exercise in timed intervals. We did this with the kickboxing itself but also running and bodyweight exercises. I think it helped that my instructor was a woman, a badass mom of 5 who was incredibly fit and inspiring. I’m sure some of the girls can agree when I say that if a man had tried telling me to do 50 crunches I would have been SO out of there. But the environment my instructor created along with the friends I made in the class made the experience for me. And with this class began my love for going to the gym! I loved watching myself get stronger, having an excuse to eat more protein because of everything I was burning, and the endorphins post-workout making my day.
Over time, I started going to the gym outside of class and developing my routine of running and weight training. I went to the gym a few days a week for the next 6 months. Seeing the progress was awesome and it’s so easy to feel proud of yourself when you can see your hard work visibly on your body. Over the summer I tried to keep up my routine but quickly fell out of the habit and was pretty hard on myself about it. At the start of this semester, I started going again and finding my favorite places at my school’s gym. I also want to explore my school’s options of group fitness classes, because as much as I like working out alone I miss that dynamic too. Even if you stop going to the gym for a while it’s truly just about bringing the habit back into your routine. And there’s no reason to be hard on yourself, not everyone is on the same path when it comes to their relationship to exercise. But it is important for both your physical and mental health that you find what works for you. There are tons of things indoors and out, at home or in the park, and group or individual. The world is truly endless and I wish more women felt empowered to go out there and find what works for them.
I struggle with social anxiety so sometimes being in a crowded gym is hard for me and that’s okay! I try to push myself, but I usually just go in blind to each workout with a general idea of what I want to do (arms, back, legs, etc.). I do a few workouts until I decide I’m over it, which can be 20 minutes or an hour depending on what I’m feeling that day. Especially being a woman, what my body can handle depends on where I’m at in my cycle, and working with that makes me feel like I get the most out of each exercise. Sometimes it’s too much to even leave the house and I just stretch or do a Pilates video at home! But moving my body in some way always makes me feel better even if I’m not an “athletic” person.
A lot of what I see on social media is people who are dedicated to their fitness and make a lifestyle out of it, and that’s great! But for me personally, what I like and what I’m capable of ebbs and flows. My workout routine will always reflect this and make space for who I am. My recommendation to the girls is not to do exactly what everyone else is doing but to just do what feels right to you. Every exercise might not do to your body what it did to another person, and making space for that is extremely important so we can spread positivity to all types of gym girlies. Do what makes you feel strong, active, and confident! Show your friends that confidence and be proud of the skills you develop no matter what they are. Also, I’ve linked a few videos that helped me find my favorite workouts and not feel so lost in the gym!