Training is hard. Being consistent at training is even harder. My fitness journey started kind of accidental actually and I had to be forced to commit to train in the beginning. At my fifth year in my fitness journey, I understand the hardship and insecurity of individuals trying to embark on this journey as beginners or as recurred attempts to get fitter. Here are some the things that I thought would be helpful in creating a conducive and supportive environment for those who want to exercise and take care of themselves consistently.
- Stop shaming people who want to make a difference in their lives. People sometimes can get jealous when a person around them is suddenly trying to build better habits for themselves. Remarks like, “She’s not gonna eat that, she’s on diet”, even said as a joke, is not helpful and could indirectly bring up guilt for the person for trying to change. It is indirectly separating the person from your ‘tribe’ and could dampen the person’s motivation to stick with the change.
- Stop sexualising/objectifying people who hit the gym. People go to gyms primarily are for a good workout not to get hit on – maybe some do, but not from creeps. Respect others as how you would not like to be objectified. If someone looks good, it is fine to appreciate from afar in a non-creepy way. Or if you need to let them know, do it respectfully. We know when someone is looking and staring at us while working out. These kind of behaviours made man and mostly women feel conscious to work out, worrying not looking modest and attracting the wrong attentions from others at the gym.
- Stop the negative stigma, thinking that you need to exercise because something is wrong with your body. Exercise is a privilege, a loving action towards your body and for the longevity of your health. More often than not, people only start to exercise because they hate their body, or they ate too much and needed the caloric burn. It is true that one of the usual drives behind working out is to look and feel good. The danger behind this mentality, is that, once people get to the desired body goals, they started to neglect the work to maintain exercising. Often, people indulge in crash dieting or doing a surge of high-intensity exercises for days until they ‘lost’ the perceived weights or body fat, then getting burnt out, which is not sustainable to keep for a long time as a lifestyle.
- Support a person decision to commit time to exercise over social invitations/events. This happened to me a lot when I was just starting out. There were many times that I prioritised training over going to family social events. At first, I was guilty because I had rarely miss family events except when I was out of state or traveling away – also due to my tendency to people please. It held me back and regressed my progress when I started to miss the frequency and rhythm of my training. Eventually, I just focused on what I needed, and everyone was okay with that. Exercise is a necessity, same as when we need to shower, eat and brush our teeth daily. Stop making it harder for others who want to make the change.
- Don’t shame them when they stop for a while to adjust. We all know the feeling when we try something new, got overwhelmed and stopped doing it for a while, or sometimes for good. To be committed to a training plan requires being disciplined as habit. And habit needs to be developed over time. There are so many barriers to getting fit. Sometimes it is time management, financial, work commitments, family obligations and so many things that could happen in someone’s life. Ask them what is it that is holding them back and try to look for solutions together on how to best motivate and start again.
- Don’t look down on overweight people when they are working out at gyms. Individuals, as they are, already have a lot of insecurity about their own body. Be kind to those who are working extra hard to improve their health. People are generally mildly anxious on looking stupid or not training as hard as others when hitting the gym and doing new routines. Be helpful when needed.
- Support people’s journey or effort; not compete and compare with yours or with other people to show that they are better. Different individual’s body each has different abilities and needs. Sometimes, people are not showing much results despite of training, potentially, caused by physiological factors. Individuals with hormonal issues transform relationally different than those without similar issues. Other people do not need to please or impress you with their training. They only need to focus on themselves. Save your insecurity for yourself, do not project onto others.
- Celebrate people’s fitness achievement. Be happy when someone shows you their progress and give out positive encouraging words to keep getting better. There are also people who show off their workout or progress for attention and admiration to feed their egos. It does not hurt, though, to give kind words instead of insulting or putting down people’s efforts.
Changing the attitude towards creating a more positive environment could definitely help and encourage more people to embark on this journey. It is called a journey, because it is hard, and it is a long-life commitment. Being fit should not be only for athletes or for hustlers. Being fit is everyone’s birthright. Let’s help create a healthier and fitter community by supporting everyone around us and have healthy attitude towards fitness and exercising.