I’ve noticed people are paranoid about even entering a gym and there are several reasons including psychological ones as well as lifestyle ones so I’m going to break it down for you so I can either help you or someone you know with this.

There is always an element of fear or avoidance that comes in from exercise either being too painful or someone not being worthy enough in themselves or from a technical perspective, not knowing what to do. I’ve heard a lot of men and women say they don’t have the time which is another way of saying that they don’t prioritise or value training enough. I’ve even asked clients who stopped training for long periods and then come back, “doesn’t training help you feel good?” They will say yeah but I can’t be bothered and then I will reply with, wait a minute… Are you saying you cant be bothered to feel good? And then the aha realisation kicks in!

The other day I spoke to another client who hasn’t trained or exercised in 7 years and he said the reason was that he felt embarrassed to do so and that the embarrassment was due to his body image and how he saw himself. With women, I’ve done consultations where the wife in front of the husband has told me that she was traumatised psychologically at the idea of looking and even feeling attractive to the opposite sex. Another view I’ve been given by a lady in her early 20’s is that some women view sports and fitness as a manlike activity.

So their are so many different view points! The thing that I believe about exercise for everyone, both men and women is that it has so many health benefits, physically, mentally and psychologically from preventing diseases and providing a great shape to feeling strong emotionally and physically to relaxation to de-stressing and releasing tension from occupations and lifestyles to plain old feeling confident in ones self. Simply seeing yourself achieving and progressing in different exercises and activities and feeling fulfilled and hearing others complimenting you on your new skills or shape or even radiant smile.

Feel free to comment below and tell me what has stopped you training currently or in the past even and please share success stories or even challenges or blocks as I’m happy to help.