Does anyone else feel like they look incredibly stupid at the gym?

[crucisdecristo]

Hi there!

I’m a 23 y/o female that is 125lbs (down from 190!!) and am trying to get toned and strong since right now I’m a weakling.

I consider myself relatively well educated when it comes to exercise in terms of form, anatomy, etc. My issue is that, because I have the strength of a wet noodle, I do a lot of body weight exercises in an attempt to work my way up to resistance training.

I’ll go into the gym with a whole workout planned for that day, I’ll have written down all the ab exercises and butt movements, and then when I get there I just feel so ridiculous. Movements like curtsy squats, v-ups, planks... basically anything that has me down in the floor makes me feel like I look like an idiot. Have any of you also experienced this? How did you power through it?

 

[lunaticox]

@crucisdecristo There’s this one guy at my gym who looks so unbelievably stupid. He does extremely weird arms Dan back movements when doing his exercises. It’s actually really painful to watch. I want to tell him he’s going to have serious back problems

 

[oseas]

@crucisdecristo I have literally never watched another gym goer for more than .05 seconds, or had any remotely judgmental thoughts about their appearance. We're all at the gym to work out and go home. Nobody's watching you, and if someone is, they're being a creep or using their gym time inappropriately. Put on your noise-cancelling headphones, turn away from the crowd, and do what you came to do.

 

[megjj123]

@crucisdecristo That feeling goes away after about the first 2 - 3 weeks tbh. That’s around the time it becomes a hobby and you find yourself needing to go and don’t care about what others do.

 

[alex_alex]

@crucisdecristo All the comments in this thread remind me of people being self-conscious about noises in a public loo - yeah no, the other people waiting should understand that pee splashes and farts fart and so on - they aren't in there to smell the fresh air either. It's just humans humaning while doing the thing that this place is for.

 

[crucisdecristo]

@alex_alex I'm also that person, so that makes sense. I just cant fart or poop if I know someone can hear me hahah

 

[dawn16]

@crucisdecristo

Movements like curtsy squats, v-ups, planks... basically anything that has me down in the floor makes me feel like I look like an idiot.

Stuff like this makes me feel like an idiot in the privacy of my living room.

Headphones on and keep your eye on the goal.

I found group classes to help with it because then you can all look "silly" together.

 

[crucisdecristo]

@dawn16

Stuff like this makes me feel like an idiot in the privacy of my living room.

yes, same!!! It makes me not want to do them because I just feel so stupid looking

 

[mysteriousgirl05]

@crucisdecristo I do! We have a bodybuild association at our uni that always claims the whole gym, making it really awkward for others to train.

 

[bryce1]

@crucisdecristo Hey, the beauty is that no one’s born strong and full of muscles. Everyone starts out weak.

Go to the resistance machines. Dial to the lowest, even 5kg (~10lbs) works. Work up from there. Calisthenics/bodyweight exercises look easy, but in fact they are difficult as hell. Using the machines I can do at least double my bodyweight (chest, squat, etc), after years of training.

Keep at it. Don’t falter. Good luck.

 

[dawn16]

@crucisdecristo Are you me? Lol also 125, also feel stupid alot. Worse is I've had trainers come up to me while I'm squatting and say "you can handle more." I'm 5'8 and I don't look skinny so they think I'm much stronger than I am. I caved once when my friends convinced me I could squat the bar, almost blew out my back.

I always workout alone now, always avoid the trainers.

 

[mauann]

@crucisdecristo Bit late to this but I totally relate, especially whenever I am trying a new exercise and haven't quite figured out the form (hello banded lunges).

I actually ended up working at my gym as a fitness attendent for a couple years and having personal insight into what I noticed and what my coworkers noticed really helped. Key things I learned:

1. Almost no one is judging you
2. The ones who are judging you are generally mean spirited and insecure people, and their opinion (or anyone's opinion really) doesn't matter

 

[annitabeya]

@crucisdecristo So there's actually some psychology behind this and it's called the "imaginary audience," it's usually associated with adolescence when we all feel like people are noticing and judging us all the time. But it's the same phenomenon in adulthood and feels just as intimidating. Like so many other posters above said, everyone looks dumb at the gym, and if you go to a real gym and not a meat market showoff gym, no one is paying any attention to you and when they are, they are usually just noticing that they can help.

 

[machia]

@crucisdecristo Everyone's too busy thinking how stupid they look to notice you. Even if they notice, they don't think about it long or deeply. They may even think positively of it.

 

[snw]

@crucisdecristo I honestly always feel like this, but then when I see other people doing these things I never think they look stupid. I feel pangs of jealousy that they seem to be confident. I know I can limit myself in the workouts I do because of this, but I also know its just a mental block that I need to get past! Past a glance nobody is going to look at me, the same way I am not staring at and judging anyone else.

 

[youwantmetodowhat]

@crucisdecristo This is where being old is genuinely an advantage. You really do get to the age that you dgaf what other people think of your looks (as long as you’re self-respecting!) But do what is right for YOU!! The right people will ALWAYS respect you for it!

 

[dawn16]

@crucisdecristo Oh, all the time (those barbell hip thrusts are particularly awkward). But you have to remember that you're there to improve yourself. As long as you're doing something with good form, there's really nothing to worry about.

Also, whenever I feel this way, I tend to run into an older person doing an absolutely ridiculous exercise. I feel like it's the universe keeping me in check.

 

[michellemariebru]

@crucisdecristo I look stupid all the time and I just own it. I literally will just dance around the gym and do whatever. It’s freeing once you realize that no one really cares. I rarely notice other people nor do I judge them and I try and remember that when I start to feel insecure!

 

[psychotropicdork]

@crucisdecristo I like a lot of the advice here! It can be a bit of unnecessary work but I personally feel more comfortable when I know more. So I’ll spend a bit more time reading and watching videos about different machines and exercises until I stop feeling so anxious about them. Having a personal trainer helped break down the mental barriers between me and the machines I didn’t understand how to use.

 

[sepulfrodo]

@crucisdecristo I coach rowing and in the winter we are on land during week days. We often tell our athletes (all adults) if you feel like you look dumb, look at your team mate bing a badass, you look the same!

And honestly sometimes I give them things that look dumb but work them out really hard, but no one even cares. I do the same work outs as they do in the winter and we all laugh at the silly ones I give.