You're at the gym, your weight loss is at a stand-still, and you really want to try out of some of the "big boy" free weights to see if you can bend your loss back into submission. You certainly haven't been spending all those hours sweating with no makeup on for nothing.
But there's just one problem...
You have no idea what you're doing, and you're certainly not going to ask Mr. 6'2 224 lbs of pure muscle how to hold the bar or what the proper squat formation is (you've already looked that up on YouTube, anyways). In fact, your fear of the free weight room is hindering your fitness goals, and you can see it clearly all of a sudden.
Maybe some of you don't have that problem. Maybe you're outgoing enough to hop right in and make friends with all the beefy gym guys that you're pretty sure may live in that weight room.
But I'm not.
I've spent time garnering an affinity for the weight machines, which seem less threatening and leaves less testosterone breathing down my neck. But there will come a time when the weight machines just aren't cutting it anymore.
How am I supposed to get over this fear of the free weight room?
Is it that being near men intimidates me? No, I work closely with men on a daily basis at my workplace.
No, I think it's more to do with the fact that the room is small and closed off, which leaves no space to differentiate between my squat space and Mark's mirror selfies for his Facebook and fitness-inspired Instagram. Gotta show off those gains, y'all.
I also think it's because being a newbie, not knowing what the heck I'm doing, makes me automatically assume I would look stupid to everyone in there while I tried to figure out what size dumbbells I should choose or how far apart I should separate my legs for formation.
Maybe I should go at weird times of day when the room is empty, or obsess over videos showing me "how girls are supposed to lift."
I bet that there are many other girls (or even guys uneducated in weightlifting) who would feel uncomfortable pitting themselves up against that gym rat who clearly dreams about his biceps getting bigger. While many of them would probably be helpful if we asked for their help, we don't do it.
And while yes, there are personal trainers--who has time to acclimate your schedule to theirs, or the monetary backing needed to pay for one? I know I don't. I'm a twenty-something working to pay school loans and a car payment and insurance (and hopefully soon, a living space).
Let's get back to my point, which is that gyms should offer classes and programs that teach members basic lifting techniques, show them which areas they are targeting for varying exercises, and help them on what the best weight levels are for toning and strengthening, etc.
Maybe larger gyms in cities do this, but they don't do this where I come from. And just how many people aren't meeting their fitness goals because of their fears to ask questions or look stupid in front of others? I think if we did a survey we'd find a lot of people who stick to the elliptical, the treadmill, or even the weight machines because they're too scared to branch out and try new things they're unsure about.
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