Body Positivity - Feeling body-positive in the gym can be hard, but here’s how to do it

At its core, body positivity is all about having a positive body image and trying not to concern yourself with Society’s view of what the perfect ideal body type is. Understandably this is difficult when the hourglass female body and males with bulging biceps and a six-pack are plastered all over social media.

But with many people wanting to work on the physique for themselves and their own mental well-being, they will more than likely encounter the gym, which can come with its own set of body positivity hurdles.

Simply put, gyms do promote ideal body types for males and females that are all over social platforms and in magazines, and so it can be difficult to feel as body-positive as you could when you are trying to work up a sweat and reach your personal fitness goals.

And because of this, gyms can be one of the most daunting environments to be in. With tons of strong-looking people in every direction, squatting, benching and lifting super heavy weights, it is not surprising that ‘gymtimidation’ is an actual thing and it gets in the way of many people from being as confident as they can be whilst working out.

Therefore it is really important to not lose sight of what you joined the gym for and how you are going to achieve your personal fitness goals, rather than associating the gym environment as somewhere that you don’t fit in. This is sometimes easier said than done, especially when the encouraging posters and personal trainers about the place are typical representations of the ‘body goals’ that you are attempting to ignore.

Avoiding making any comparisons between you and others in the gym will make a substantial difference to your own body confidence when you are doing your workout. As tempting as it is, not checking yourself to other people’s physiques, routines or techniques will have a massive positive impact on your body confidence as you can focus on your own progress.

HOW TO FEEL BODY POSITIVE

This can be considerably difficult to do as a beginner at the gym. No matter what your gym goals are, as a beginner you are only just starting out and will not see results overnight. Therefore being bombarded with ‘perfect’ bodies all over the gym can be very disheartening and, from experience, set you back.

A good way to keep your body positivity up whilst you are on your fitness journey is keeping a picture log of you progress. No this doesn’t mean taking a dreaded gym selfie. By keeping a personal log of your progress it will help you to understand

“Dropping the pressure and judgment you put on yourself will really improve the body confidence you have too...”

how far you have come and also help you to understand what you need to do to get where you want to be.

Dropping the pressure and judgment you put on yourself will really improve the body confidence you have too. It is important to remember that just because you don’t look the same way as the others working out around you, it doesn’t mean that they are better than you or that you aren’t making any progress.

BODY POSITIVE IN THE GYM

This is something that you should do outside of the gym too. By doing this when you go to the gym to do your workout you will have a positive mindset from the off and will have a more productive session.

Combining this with wearing gym wear that you really like and feel comfortable in will do wonders for your body positivity. Even though the gym isn’t a fashion show, wearing sportswear that makes you feel good will help you want to work out. Investing in something that you can’t wait to put and workout in will significantly improve how you think and feel about your body.

“Dropping the pressure and judgment you put on yourself will really improve the body confidence you have too...”

You should also tailor your workout routine to what best suits you and what you enjoy. I personally have found that lifting weights makes me feel masculine and makes me have a negative feeling about my body. Therefore I stick to HIT training and spin classes because it works best for me and my confidence.

This is all a process of trial and error so you’ll need to try different ways of working out in the gym to find out what makes you feel good. This could be anything between practicing yoga to lifting heavy weights to swimming to group classes - it is all about finding what makes you feel body confident.

But most importantly, maintaining your body positivity in the gym will come from remembering why you started. No matter where you are in your workout journey and how much farther you want to push yourself, you have to remind yourself of the reason you began going and paying for the membership in the first place. Whilst you might hit a wall, focusing on your long-term goal will help you push through and you will get there no matter how long it takes.

All in all, you shouldn’t discredit the progress that you have made and you will thank yourself for it when you get to be where you want to be. So don’t give up with your fitness goals and keep pushing through, ignoring everything you ever heard about the ‘perfect body’.

WRITTEN BY SHANNON MOUNTFORD DESIGNED BY GAYATRI RANA