Back to the gym aged 55

[lurchermummy]

Just posting for moral support and accountability! Recently took the plunge and rejoined the gym. I'm 55, arthritic and overweight. I've paid for 3 sessions with a PT (can't afford more atm) and she is helping me with technique and form. I am looking to tone up and feel fitter and stronger. Weight loss would be a bonus. I really struggle with feeling self conscious in the gym and lacking confidence. I feel like everyone is looking at me although I know they probably don't care. Any tips to push through this phase would be welcomed!

What kind of gym have you joined? The thing I love about mine is that there's all different sorts of body shapes and ages, and seriously no one even gives you a second thought!

Just think how fantastic you'll feel when you get your teeth into it - if you feel self conscious can you go there in their quieter periods?

@LaQuern thank you it's quite a mixed gym, a private one and thankfully not full of young lads like the local council run one is. It's quite a friendly gym. I know it's all in my head, it's just knowing the etiquette about taking up space and using the equipment that I find a bit stressful.

Can you ask your PT when is a good time to go there, where there will be others your age?

Good for you!
I started going to a Pilates class with a friend once a week and slowly this has become 2 classes and 3 gym sessions a week habit.
I've not been this fit for years, it's a huge mental as well as physical health boost.
I was rather shy of the younger bigger body-building types but have found them to be kind, friendly and encouraging mostly.

No idea what’s good/safe for arthritis, but here to say good for you!

Thanks all! I'm aware the barriers are as much psychological as they are physical but I'm putting on my big girl pants and I'm determined to make a go of it.

Everyone went to the gym for the first time once - even the buffed up guys.
I'm 57, short and fat. Don't bother with lycra, I wear capri length track pants and a loose t shirt. If you are doing cardio get a proper sports bra.
After 3 sessions with a PT you will know enough - do your own thing and don't worry what any one else does.
After Christmas there will an influx of new people- the skinny young ones don't last long, the older ones do.
I know it's mean but it does rather amuse me when the youngsters who think they know it all come a bit of a cropper on the machines.
The only time I really notice anyone is when they are posing though, otherwise everyone else is just background blur
Well done on getting started

I have always gone to gyms - mostly to do classes. And ballet studios to take class. Walking into a new ballet studio is even scarier than walking into a new gym!

There is always that fear that everyone is looking at me.Really, they're not! we're all dealing with our own stuff, and worried everyone else is looking at us ....

I started in a new gym 5 years ago, in my late 50s, and worked with a PT for the 1st time. It was revelatory. I now pick up really heavy stuff (deadlifts, squats and big weights on the sled). And it's just such fun!!!

My gym is a commercial one, but also very friendly. The only reason I"d be looking at you is if you were doing something amazing - today I was chatting to a lady who was working with her PT, and going for a new lifting Personal Best (PB) - she lifted 84 kilos in a deadlift & made it look so easy!

No one will be looking at you in the gym. The young generation are too busy looking at themselves at every opportunity they can get. Seriously.

I used to be super fit but let it all go and became obese, i rejoined a gym at age 51, I am 55 now. I took everything really easy, I didn't care what others were doing, I just did that suited me, I didn't look at what weights others were doing or what they were wearing. I have come a long way since then, but still only do what suits me... some days I'm fabulous, some days I am distinctly not, lol. The gym is now my happy place. One day at a time. Good luck

All I would be thinking is ‘good on you!’. I admire those who look unfit and overweight far more than the gym bunnies types. It takes guts to start a new regime like you are.

Well done you on joining the gym. Good you're getting the pt sessions. Make sure you warm up and cool down after each session. Most gym goers do not care one jot about who else is there or what they look like. After a time you will get to know the regular faces.

Worth you going at different times to see how busy it is amd when is an ideal time to go.

My gym is a Better one so not fancy but you have all ages and sizes there. People just want to work out and go.

My advice is also to create your own workouts from what the pt has said as you need to enjoy your workouts as well as them consisting of exercises or machines that help you reach your goal

Well done you. You are a lot braver than me. I have only ever had one session in a public gym and i just couldnt get comfortable. I have my own gym at home thankfully.

Really make the most of them 3 sessions with the PT. That should be enough for you to get a really good awareness of whats involved and enable you to be confident in what you are doing.

Good luck

Op, I’ve just finished working with my PT and I’m on my own from next week and totally get how you are feeling!
We can do this!
I’m aiming for three sessions a week or 2 plus a class. I figured that even if I only manage 15 minutes at first that it’s 15 minutes more than I would usually do.

Good for you! I'm 62 and see a PT once a week who gives me so much confidence....you don't need machines for strength training! I'm now doing 3 spin classes a week.
I have toned up massively and feel so much happier.

Ask for recommendations of classes to support the training you do with your PT. If you go to the same ones week in, week out, you’ll get to know the other regulars.

I'd think "Yay, go you"
You may have just inspired me to get off my lazy arse and rejoin the gym!

Aww thanks all who commented - I'm still feeling a bit nervous but it's getting better. Managed to set up and do some deadlifts by myself this morning. I even went in the morning before work - a real first for me! Watching lots of videos on you tube for ideas and to check form. Thanks all for the support - much appreciated!

Well done OP. After a while the gym becomes routine and simply part of your routine, very comfortable.

When I see new starters I just think ‘good for you !’.
Honestly, everyone is just doing their own thing, they aren’t interested in you. Enjoy it, and we’ll done .

I’m 65 and have just joined a gym and found a PT who really understands what want to achieve. I just want to be able to keep up with fitter friends on hilly walks and rough terrain. I was pleasantly surprised that there were other people like me and of my age in the gym, no fancy Lycra and not many shiny pony tails bobbing on the machines. I’ve booked 8 sessions over four weeks with the PT.

Go @lurchermummy ! I started properly in a gym when I was 50 and now train quite seriously.

Someone said to me early on "You have just as much right to use the equipment as anyone else" - so so obvious but good to have it said out loud.

If you can't manage ongoing PT, I would try some classes, if your gym has any decent ones. IME and IMO it is hard to keep going consistently as a beginner solo. For your aims, it doesn't matter so much what you do as that you do it regularly and enjoy it. At that first gym, I got really into boxing and pilates, neither of which I had done before at all, just because the instructors were good. And I did circuit-type classes with weights. And I met people who I could then train with, which helped too.

I have been either ignored (politely) or encouraged, and made some friends, at all three gyms I have trained at now. No-one cares what you look like, or what you are doing, as long as you re-rack weights etc.

I'm (relatively) young and slim with a 'shiny ponytail' and still felt nervous when I first started at the gym! Nobody will be looking at you or judging you, other than to think well done for starting.

Yes, re-rack your weights!!! And keep out of each other’s way (I hate it when I’m pushing or pulling something REALLY heavy on the sled, and someone bumbles across the track.) But other than that, have a great time.

I never really notice other people in the gym. I am there to exercise, not to people watch. I just plug my music in and get on with my thing. I think this is what most people do. There are people of all shapes, sizes and ages at my gym.