“I’m Too Unfit to Join a Gym” — This Is Exactly Why You Should Start
“I need to get a bit fitter before I join.”
“I wouldn’t know what I was doing.”
“Everyone else will be fitter than me.”
“I’ll look ridiculous.”
“I’ll just stick to the treadmill because at least I know how that works.”
If any of those thoughts sound familiar, you are absolutely not alone.
In fact, these are some of the things I hear most often from women before they start working with me.
And there’s something I really want you to know:
You do not need to get fit before you start getting fit.
The gym can feel intimidating
Walking into a gym when you don’t feel confident exercising can be horrible.
There’s equipment you don’t recognise. People who seem to know exactly what they’re doing. Mirrors everywhere. And that little voice in your head telling you that everyone is looking at you.
So you head towards the thing that feels safest. The treadmill. The bike. Maybe the cross trainer.
You do 30 minutes, leave feeling relieved that you’ve done something, but you’re still no closer to knowing how to strength train.
Then you do the same thing next time. It’s not because you’re lazy or incapable. Nobody has taught you what to do.
Strength training isn’t something you should already know
We don’t expect someone to walk onto a tennis court for the first time and instinctively know how to serve. We wouldn’t hand someone a set of golf clubs and wonder why they weren’t immediately brilliant.
Yet somehow, when it comes to strength training, we think we should already know:
How heavy should you lift?
How many repetitions?
Which exercises should you choose?
Is your technique right?
What if your knees hurt?
What if you haven’t exercised for ten years?
What if you have an injury or health condition?
These are all things that can be taught.
And that’s exactly what good coaching should do.
This is why I created Movement Foundations
Movement Foundations isn’t about throwing you into a busy fitness class and expecting you to keep up. It’s coached small-group strength training, designed particularly for people who are new to strength training, nervous about starting, returning after a break or simply don’t know what to do.
You learn the foundations properly.
We squat. Hinge. Push. Pull. Carry. Build balance, stability and strength. But more importantly, you begin to understand your own body. There are only a small number of people training together, which means I can coach you, adapt exercises and help you progress at a level that’s appropriate for you.
You still get individual attention, but you also get something incredibly valuable that traditional one-to-one training doesn’t always provide:
community.
You realise very quickly that you’re not the only person who felt nervous.
Nobody is watching you.
Nobody cares what weight you’re lifting.
And nobody expects you to be good at something you’ve never done before.
You don’t have to look like a “gym person”
This one matters to me. Fitness does not belong to the youngest, leanest, strongest or most confident person in the room.
Strength training is for the woman who hasn’t exercised for 20 years.
It’s for the woman going through perimenopause who suddenly doesn’t recognise how her body feels.
It’s for the person recovering from injury.
It’s for the person managing a long-term health condition.
It’s for the woman who has spent years believing exercise is something she should do, but has never found somewhere she feels comfortable doing it.
And yes, it’s also for the person who feels unfit, overweight or terrified that everyone will look at her.
You don’t have to change your body before you’re allowed to start looking after it.
What if you’re really unfit?
Then we start where you are.
That’s it.
There is no fitness test you have to pass before you’re worthy of coaching.
An exercise can be made easier. It can be made harder. We can change the range of movement, the load, the speed or the equipment.
My job isn’t to see what you can’t do.
My job is to find out what you can do now and help you build from there.
As a Level 3 Exercise Referral Specialist, I also work with people managing injuries, chronic conditions and long-term health concerns, so I understand that exercise doesn’t always begin from a completely healthy, pain-free starting point.
Sometimes the first win isn’t lifting a heavier weight.
It’s getting off the floor more easily.
Walking further.
Feeling steadier.
Carrying your shopping without struggling.
Trusting your knee again.
Or simply walking into a training space without feeling frightened.
Those things matter.
Confidence comes after you start
This is probably the biggest misconception of all.
People tell me: “I’ll start when I feel a bit more confident.”
But confidence doesn’t usually arrive first.
You start.
You learn.
You realise you can do more than you thought.
You come back the following week.
Something that felt awkward starts feeling familiar.
You lift something that once felt heavy.
And somewhere along the way, you stop wondering whether you belong there.
That’s where the confidence comes from.
So if you’ve been waiting until you’re fitter, slimmer, stronger or braver before you start, maybe you don’t need to wait.
You don’t need to know what you’re doing.
That’s what the coaching is for.
Want to see what Movement Foundations is like?
Move Reset Norfolk’s Movement Foundations tasters are a FREE chance to come along, experience the training and meet us without committing to the full programme.
Monday 24 August — 7:00pm
Wednesday 26 August — 10:00am
Delivered at The Nest, Norwich - loads of free an accessible parking!
Come exactly as you are.
You don’t need to get fit first.
Starting is how you get there.
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