No Need for Women to Feel Anxiety at the Gym

Many women go from gym to gym hoping to feel comfortable working out.  They often worry about wearing the right clothes and shoes or if they are doing the workout correctly.  They walk in and see the big, muscular men lifting 200 pound dumbbells and feel foolish lifting a five pound weight thinking they look like a weakling.

There is no need to feel self-conscious as a female at the gym.  It can be pretty daunting walking into the gym for the first time and seeing all sorts of machines.  It reminds me of a comedy routine by Brian Regan about health clubs.  He talks about going to the gym for the first time.  Being led on a tour by an employee who is pointing out all sorts of machines, and he even shows you how to use a few of them but you don’t remember how when it comes time to use it.  Then he talks about getting into a machine wrong.  He puts his arms and legs where he thinks they go and starts moving them around.  Then a guy comes up to him and asks him to get out of the painters scaffolding.  

Have any of you had this experience and suddenly are self-conscious at the gym?  Many women who feel self-conscious don’t get a good workout because they are afraid of doing something wrong.  If you ever have questions about how to use a machine just ask one of the personal trainers.  They love to help their members get the most out of a workout.  Also because they are afraid of doing something wrong or using the “painter’s scaffolding” they head straight for the treadmill or elliptical and think that is all they need.  The only problem is they don’t see any results.

In order to get results, women should also add weight training to their workout routine.  Women should build lean muscle by lifting low amount of weight.  When you build lean muscle it burns more calories than just doing a cardio workout alone.  It is a myth that lifting weights will make a women look masculine.  Women can’t build this type of muscle because they don’t have naturally high levels of testosterone like men do.  Lifting weights increase your muscle and bone strength, while helping to prevent joint injury and osteoporosis.  Adding weight training to your workout routine will give you a lean and shapely look.  

Women also often feel reluctant about using supplements to augment their training regimen.  They are afraid the supplements will make them bulky or add weight instead of help take the weight off.  Using a whey protein isolate supplement can help with the weight loss process.  It is a dairy based protein that is easier to digest.  A whey protein isolate also is 90% protein, so it doesn’t give you the added carbohydrates and calories the other proteins give.  Taking in additional protein in your diet will help you build the lean muscle that gives you a trim, lean look.

However, if you still feel self-conscious using the weight lifting machines or the free weights many gyms have a women’s only section that has the same machines as the main areas.  Lately, there has been a rise in creating women only gyms and offering a women only time during the day.

Don’t worry that you don’t have a trim looking body yet.  But with weight training and using supplements, you soon will have that lean body.