Lifting my Spirits at the Gym

I’ve been lifting weights for years, starting on the farm long before joining a gym. My early lifting equipment happened to be hay bales and logs. Once I’d grown and left the farm, my weights were the type typically found in a gym. I continued working at one gym or another for years, until we purchased our own house and created a home gym.

Now, after years of lifting at home, it was decided that I’d lift safely at a gym due to my epilepsy diagnosis. A local gym would work perfectly as I’ve just recently regained my driving clearance, I’m now 6 months’ post seizure.

I haven’t been in a gym for more than a decade, I was very self-aware and uncomfortable the first time I walked in. As I moved toward the front desk, I thought it was oddly placed in the back of the room. It wasn’t until I reached the desk that I realized the entry door to the gym was from the back of the building.

It’s my first day and I’ve already entered the building wrong; I’ve walked the gym floor with street shoes.

Approaching the desk, the twenty something attendant became confused about online sign-up. After explaining that online sign-up is possible through their website via MindBody, I asked for a tour. I had to remind him I was a new member and unfamiliar with the gym layout.

I arrived dressed and ready, I dropped a few non-essentials in the locker and hit the floor feeling like an outlier among these seasoned gym goers. Having spent years using my equipment, I had to acclimate myself to various machines and gym layout. I moved around the space with trepidation as it was busier than I’d hoped.

In the first moments back in the gym, I knew all eyes would be on me, I was very self-conscious in the moment. At home, my dumb bells are hex shaped while the gym uses a larger diameter rubber dumb bell. The large rounder head felt different. I’m not Sheldon, I think the larger diameter of the rubber dumb bell moves the weight farther away from the center of gravity, making weight feel heavier.

As I start to process through my first few sets, I’m trying the dumb bell system out and find the larger head size awkward. I start low on each lift, working my way up until I’m at the top of my range. As I move up in weight for the lift, I realize the weight choice is too heavy and racked them. It was at this point a ripped-shirt dude-brah felt compelled to impart some words of wisdom. My first thought was how rude and had I been trying the gym, I’d walk out and never return.

I’m hoping the self-conscious feelings go away as I get to know people and resocialize myself. My next visit will be at an earlier hour hoping it’s dude-brah free.

Even with the little interruption, I’m already feeling better and excited about accessing a wider variety of equipment.