Gym Fear
By Sarah Delaney / Divine Caroline
I am in the gym, running on the treadmill. I have it set at 4.5. I glance over and the guy next to me is running at 8.5. I am sure he thinks I am a loser. I put my towel over the top of the treadmill so he can’t see my speed. I wonder what I look like running.
Probably pretty bad because I have on these new shorts and they keep riding up my inner thighs. I keep having to put my hand between my legs to pull them down. Some old lady walks by and tells me to get a room.
I choose to ignore her and let myself get carried away with my music. I love listening to the Spice Girls on my Walkman. Unfortunately I accidentally start singing out loud. I mean, really out loud and the guy running next to me stops his treadmill and glares at me until I take off my headphones
“Would you mind?! Not everybody wants to hear that stupid song, especially not with your glass shattering voice. My dog can sing better than you.” Oh my god, I want to die. Obviously I am uber embarrassed and I somehow lose my footing and I slip on the treadmill and go flying off of it.
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wow is your story for real? if people read this it would seriously put people off to exercise in gyms! Well I guess if you are afraid of such situations, you can always purchase an electric treadmill to run at home. That will save you all the trouble and make you stop worrying!
No, it's not real - it's written like a kind of Murphy's Law dream sequence when everything that can go wrong will - based on our fears.
I love the article and while dramatic (for effect!) some gyms can really be awful places - full of posers and quite meat market-ish. This is why I work out at home! However, gyms can also be very supportive places where a group setting encourages people. And a personal trainer can hold a person accountable for showing up and working out. A person just needs to find the right gym for them.