Have you experienced anxiety when going to the gym or ‘gymtimidation?’ Here’s how to address it

Going to the gym can feel great, but it can also bring about feelings of stress or anxiety. That anxiety and those negative feelings can feel very real. That’s why it’s been dubbed “gymtimidation.”

One survey polled 2,000 Americans and found that half of all respondents reported feeling anxiety about joining a gym, The New York Times reported.

“Gym anxiety affects people who are young, old, male and female,” Brookelyn Suddell, director of group fitness strategy and development for Crunch Fitness in New York City, told CNN. “It affects people of all ethnicities and races, and of all ability levels, although its frequency and intensity differ by person.”

Gymtimidation can look different on everyone. It can include fears of how they look in the gym, not knowing where things are, the size of the gym or just being intimidated by other gymgoers. That anxiety “can and does thwart a person’s best intentions and efforts to meet their health goals as it causes them to end a session early, skip a session entirely, or let their membership lapse without reinstating it,” Ace Fitness writes.

Here’s how to combat ‘gymtimidation’

Here are some tips to combat “gymtimidation” and face those fears of the gym to reach your fitness goals.

• Know that you’re not alone. Everyone has their own insecurities and most people will be more consumed by their own self-consciousness or on their own phones that your insecurities could likely go unnoticed.

• Do some research about the workouts or classes you want to try beforehand, the Cleveland Clinic suggests.

• Ask for a tour of the gym — most provide them by request.

• Choose a time that will be less crowded and overwhelming.

• Bring a gym buddy.

• Attend a class or group session.

• Keep showing up.

It may sound like the hardest thing to do, but oftentimes facing your fears just requires you to just do it and know that it gets easier the more times you go.