Huge fear of mine! Always afraid that I’m gonna look silly, like I’m doing something wrong, like I don’t belong, like I’m pathetic for being out of shape. Luckily — most people do not care at all about what you’re doing and what you look like and are just as much in their own heads.
Pro tip:If you have gym anxiety, walk in and immediately post up on a treadmill and just start walking. Walking is a good warm-up (or even a good workout depending on your level of fitness!), and buys you a solid half-hour to unobtrusively observe gym dynamics. Does it have a flow? Which areas are high traffic vs low? Are folks social or a bunch of solos w/headphones?
All this while you’re building your own plan. Think of it like the on ramp on the highway as you’re looking for the right time and right speed to merge into traffic.
Used to be a huge fear of mine. But, I’m now going to the gym 3-4 days a week alone (maybe one day with my 14yr daughter) and I’m 280lbs. I live in a college town in California so a lot of skinny perfect girls and guys go to the gym here and I used to always compare myself and work out to theirs. But I don’t even care anymore I’m gonna get myself back in shape and I ignore them all and act like I’m the only one there.