Have a personal trainer

“My new personal trainer is so lovely - she's supportive, reassuring and challenges me in ways that I would never do myself. I learned so much in just one session and my confidence is so much higher. Was the whole session sunshine and roses? Absolutely not - the moment my trainer would leave my side to get a weight or piece of equipment, I would instantly feel so anxious and self-conscious. Plus there were some exercises I really struggled with. But what surprised me was how ok I felt when she was with me and that I was actually good and enjoying most of the exercises!”

“Somehow I make it through 50 minutes of rowing, planks, and kettlebells, then flee to the women’s locker room to burst into embarrassed tears. I’ve always avoided boot camp workouts, particularly coed ones, for exactly this reason. I hate failing hard in front of jacked, gorgeous people. It doesn’t help that the next morning I can barely walk up the subway steps.”

“I was very embarrassed by my lack of basic knowledge in the gym. I’m pretty good with jargon, but holy shit, gym language was complicated. And didn’t map to anything I already knew. The names of the exercises were not helpful to me, and I found myself drawing lots of stick figure pictures to try to remember how to do things properly. [...] I will never be able to perform a new exercise perfectly the first time. And I really need to be ok with that. As a person who regularly masters new technical skills with little or no help from colleagues or friends, it’s regularly an embarrassing and humbling experience to go to the gym.”