Nervous about the free weight section in the gym? Here's how to walk In like you belong!
Nervous about the free weight section in the gym? Here's how to walk In like you belong!
You walk into the gym with your bag on your shoulder and a plan in your head. Today's the day you finally step into the free weight section.
You hop on the treadmill first. Just to warm up. Just to buy some time.
Ten minutes turns into twenty. You watch someone over by the rack tossing around dumbbells like it's nothing.
You think about walking over there.
And then you talk yourself right back out of it.
Maybe you finish your cardio and head home, telling yourself you'll do it next time. Or maybe today's the day you walk over, grab the lightest dumbbell you can find, knock out a few wobbly reps, and speed walk back to the cardio machines like you just robbed a bank.
Either way, friend, you are so not alone.
Here's the short version. The fastest way to get comfortable in the free weight section is to walk in with a plan already laid out, start with just a couple of exercises you already understand, and remind yourself that almost every confident lifter in that room once felt exactly like you do right now.
Confidence isn't something you wait around for. It's something you build one rep at a time.
You're Not the Only One Feeling This Way
Nearly two thirds of women say they avoid the gym because they're afraid of being judged, and the free weight section is public enemy number one when it comes to gym anxiety. So if your brain has been talking you out of that area of the gym, your brain is doing exactly what most women's brains do.
Why the Free Weight Section Feels So Much Scarier Than the Machines
If you've ever thought "I don't have the knowledge to use free weights" or "am I going to hurt myself?," you are describing the exact thing so many women feel the first time they walk over there.
Machines come with instructions built right onto them. Dumbbells and barbells do not. That gap, right there, is where most of the anxiety lives.
And let's be honest, the weight room has historically felt like it belongs to the guys. It doesn't. Every woman who picks up a barbell is taking up a little bit of space that should have never been off limits to her in the first place.
6 Things You Can Do Today to Get Comfortable Lifting Weights
👉🏻 Walk in with a plan already picked out. Know your 2-3 exercises before you get there so you're not standing around deciding, which is where the overthinking spiral starts.
👉🏻 Start small. You don't need the whole rack on day one. Two or three movements you can do with confidence beats ten you're guessing at.
👉🏻 Watch a form video before you go, or film yourself once you're there. Knowing what "right" looks like takes so much of the fear out of "am I doing this right."
👉🏻 Pick a quieter hour if being watched is what stresses you out most. Fewer eyes, more room to figure it out at your own pace.
👉🏻 Remember the math. Almost everyone in that gym is locked into their own workout and their own playlist. Nobody's got the bandwidth to be studying your deadlift setup.
👉🏻 Bring a friend if you can. Having someone next to you, even just to hype you up, makes that first walk over so much easier.
👉🏻 Give yourself permission to look like a beginner. Every single confident lifter you see today walked in exactly as unsure as you feel right now.
I've watched hundreds of women freeze at the edge of that free weight section over the years, both in my gym here in Nashville and through my online coaching. And every one of them was capable of a whole lot more than that first nervous walk up suggested.
You Don't Have to Figure This Out Alone
Getting comfortable in the free weight section gets a whole lot easier when you're not guessing. It's just easier with a plan and someone in your corner.
👉🏻 Want built in structure, video demos, and a community of women lifting right alongside you, without a huge commitment? Start your 7 day free trial of the Stronger TogetHER Lifting Club today.
👉🏻 Ready for a fully custom plan and a coach checking your form so you never have to wonder if you're doing it right? Claim your strength now with Stacked Strength.
You will never regret being strong, but the day might come when you wish you were.
Coach Kristin 💪🏼
Source: Fitrated survey data, as reported by Fitrated.com, on gym avoidance and fear of judgment among women.
Also Wondering If You Waited Too Long to Start?
You're not too old, and you're not too late. If that question has been rattling around in your head too, I already answered it here: Am I Too Old to Start Lifting Weights? Strength Training for Women Over 40.
📩 Reach out to me and let’s get you started on your strong girl journey. You can email me at [email protected] or hit me up on Instagram here.
You will never regret being strong but the day might come when you wish you were.
