Well when I went to the gym once, it seemed to me that everyone was laughing at me.
Yes I’m not one of those skinny girls. But at least I came there to change something.
I’m too shy and such their reaction made me sit at home. I couldn’t dare to go there once more.
Don’t know what should I do now((
Just saw this log. I think
“I didn’t realize my world class resting bitch face was such an asset until this thread”
is good to use in a new gym.
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Go to a different gym. Wear headphones. Don’t make eye contact. Don’t talk to anyone. Do your thing, then leave.
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Respectfully, this seems like more of a self-esteem thing than an issue with the gym.
I’ve often heard people who don’t use gyms talk about how judgemental people in gyms are, and how they feared being laughed at. In my experience this just isn’t the case.
I’ve used dozens of gyms in dozens of cities around the world and am yet to see an instance of anyone being laughed at for being out of shape.
I do believe there are some assholes out there, for sure, but the fact that you feel that “everyone” was laughing at you sounds, to me, like perhaps it was partly, if not completely, in your head.
In any case - don’t let a negative experience put you off doing something positive for yourself.
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Hi,
Unfortunately, I’m not such a brave person not to worry about other’s opinion. Maybe I’ll try once more.
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This bit of psychology always fascinated me.
Like, I imagine you have low self-esteem if you assume people inherently think negatively of you, however, I would actually imagine your self-esteem to be AMAZINGLY high if you constantly assume people are even thinking about you in any capacity.
I, for example, am very insignificant. I couldn’t even fathom people taking time out of their personal leisure time at the gym to look at me, carefully weigh and measure me in their minds, form an evaluation, and then act upon it (laugh at me). That’s WAY too much involvement for a stranger. I would simply be ignored. I’d have to be incredibly important or significant for someone to do that.
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I think you’re giving yourself too little credit. I think this way and always have but being one of the strongest guys at my gym (not saying much with the people there) I’ve had people stop and watch me lift, track me down on instagram (which isn’t fitness related), or see me places outside the gym and tell me I inspire them because of how hard I work. Most of this makes me terribly uncomfortable but you’re stronger than me so I assume more people take notice of you than you think.
I train in my garage, which would preclude the possibility of people seeing me train, but I suppose you may be onto something. But extrapolate it to everyday life.
Think of how many people you pass by in your daily life that, at most, are simply an obstacle you have to navigate around as you locomote. There just isn’t enough time or energy for me to cast a judgement about all the humans I see.
What percentage of humans, that you see, do you think you judge? How do you train this, tabata-style?
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Less than 1%. It’s usually going to be someone standing out significantly. And even then, it’s a quick “That person is big” “That person is skinny” “That person is fat”, before I have to quickly disengage so I can tell my kid to take the battery out of their mouth, and then wonder how the hell they got a battery.
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I love you, Punny.
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Exactly this! You put it into words better than I could. It’s a really interesting dichotomy to think the universe both revolves around you and, at the same time, finds you lacking.
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I would never make fun of anyone putting forth a concerted effort, anyone who has put in the time to try and find a better way to improve themselves.
I have however been known to quietly mock be conceited disillusioned ones though -lol
S
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I’m too busy flexing and admiring myself in the mirror between sets to notice anyone else.
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I go to a gym frequented by middle/high schoolers. The only thing they do, besides flex in the mirror after doing curls using there legs and back, is judge other people. Which is also good cause they are middle/highdchoolers, so any opinion they have is irrelevant anyway. Except the one time they thought they were stronger than me, knocked down there sandcastle real quick. Nobody better than me, not even you Kevin, you noodle arm fuck.
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Watching as a guy easily 65+ years old (and his body looks every bit of it) struts from machine to machine in a polo shirt, spandex bike shorts and full length black socks pulled all the way up.
S
First evening session all summer…
Ahhh, fat guys with with chin straps and gallon bottles of water… must be a team uniform.
S
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Yep, of Team PEAK PERFORMANCE!!!
I’ve been lifting odd hours at my old commercial gym for the last few weeks, so I’ve had the pleasure of some interesting interactions of gym acquaintances both old and new.
I suppose Mr. Train Upper Body Only has a good upper body by normal person standards, but he’s always had a lot of criticism about my squatting and deadlifting over the years. To his credit, he’s not fat, is bald, tan and has a scorpion tattoo, but I’m not so sure that imparts a great deal of knowledge about lifting.
I squat too heavy apparently, and according to Mr. Upper Body one should not squat any weight that one cannot do for at least 20 reps. I suppose that’s why I’ve only seen him squatting once in the hundreds of times I’ve worked out with him, and it was a set of 3 quarter-squats with 315.
My deadlift also needs work. He laid into me last week to altruistically inform me that I’m deadlifting all wrong, deadlifting much too loudly and prophetically declared that I’m about to suffer grave injury. I suppose that’s why I’ve only seen him deadlifting (or even hip-hinging at all) once in the hundreds of times I’ve worked out with him. Oddly enough, he managed to injure himself on that very day and was out of the gym for a few weeks.
I’ve asked him to show me how to rep 495 out quietly, but for some reason he’s never been able to demonstrate the silent deadlift technique he assures me that he practices in my absence. I told him he’s nothing but talk and now I don’t think he likes me any more. I think I’ll invite him to jiu jitsu class to make peace.
I also had an interesting conversation with a guy who I used to work with who just started training. He’s dropped a fair bit of weight and is enjoying his time in the gym, so I just smiled and nodded at him as he passed along all of his new-found lifting wisdom from the past four months.
He’s going super-high reps to cut-up and build muscle as he diets down.
He’s wisely selected a Keto diet as it’s the only way you can lose fat and build muscle while you’re dropping 5 pounds per week.
He’s avoiding compound lifts because they make you fat and big-boned.
I started to explain that you’re not going to be building any muscle if you’re dropping 5 lbs/week, but I could see that new-lifter zeal in his eyes as he was explaining how much his arms have grown, like a religious fanatic who is convinced that he’s on the path to ultimate spiritual fulfillment and unlimited joy in the afterlife. Besides, I don’t think there’s too much harm in a beginner believing in lifting fairy tales if it’s lighting your fire and he’s still getting good overall results.
“If it’s working for you, keep it up. Gotta run. See you around!”
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Come to my gym and I’ll eyeball all of ya.
I told you to stop calling my team out.
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