I just wanted to share with you a milestone of mine. I read on here a couple of weeks ago someone had a fear of going to the gym much like I do. Although I didn't respond, I read a lot of words of encouragement in reply to that thread which also spurred me on and as I made my first trip to the gym, I thought at least if it goes badly I can share it here!
I was on a course which involved staying at a small hotel for almost a week with a number of other delegates. I thought this would be the ideal opportunity to try going to the hotel gym; the other people at the gym, if any, were likely to be ones I met on the course and I could really do with using the dumbbell set there anyway so I didn't have to miss out on workouts.
I was also really glad I'd read about other people using FB videos at the gym. I have no idea about gym etiquette but I set up where there was space and using a bench (as there was another one if others needed it) and followed the routines I had set for the day.
There were indeed a couple of others from the course there, and they weren't one of the two other women on the course. An unfortunate/fortunate (depending on your perspective) combo of feeling I had to prove myself to the boys (I know, not very constructive or realistic!) and the mass of adrenaline running around my body led to me lifting significantly higher than normal. I am a pleasant level of sore at the moment lifting 8kg (17ish lb) on deadlifts, what was I doing that day? 12kg (26.5lb)! I was genuinely wondering if my weights at home were somehow heavier, the dumbbells there just weren't feeling as heavy as they should. It's really amazing to have a measure of what a difference adrenaline can make!
Anyway, though fortunately my hamstrings were the only casualty of the day, it took over a week for them to get back to normal. I was beginning to think I'd done something worse than hit them a bit hard!
I'm glad I did it, and if you're still reading, thanks for reading. As I said, it's knowing this community exists that made me that little bit braver.
I went to the gym for the first time! but...
Hi all,
I just wanted to share with you a milestone of mine. I read on here a couple of weeks ago someone had a fear of going to the gym much like I do. Although I didn't respond, I read a lot of words of encouragement in reply to that thread which also spurred me on and as I made my first trip to the gym, I thought at least if it goes badly I can share it here!
I was on a course which involved staying at a small hotel for almost a week with a number of other delegates. I thought this would be the ideal opportunity to try going to the hotel gym; the other people at the gym, if any, were likely to be ones I met on the course and I could really do with using the dumbbell set there anyway so I didn't have to miss out on workouts.
I was also really glad I'd read about other people using FB videos at the gym. I have no idea about gym etiquette but I set up where there was space and using a bench (as there was another one if others needed it) and followed the routines I had set for the day.
There were indeed a couple of others from the course there, and they weren't one of the two other women on the course. An unfortunate/fortunate (depending on your perspective) combo of feeling I had to prove myself to the boys (I know, not very constructive or realistic!) and the mass of adrenaline running around my body led to me lifting significantly higher than normal. I am a pleasant level of sore at the moment lifting 8kg (17ish lb) on deadlifts, what was I doing that day? 12kg (26.5lb)! I was genuinely wondering if my weights at home were somehow heavier, the dumbbells there just weren't feeling as heavy as they should. It's really amazing to have a measure of what a difference adrenaline can make!
Anyway, though fortunately my hamstrings were the only casualty of the day, it took over a week for them to get back to normal. I was beginning to think I'd done something worse than hit them a bit hard!
I'm glad I did it, and if you're still reading, thanks for reading. As I said, it's knowing this community exists that made me that little bit braver.