Comparing Yourself Leads To Disaster

I know from personal experience that when you first begin working out it’s really hard not to compare yourself to the people around you.  When I first started I was 17 years old, 150 pounds, and one of the skinniest people in the gym I went to, at least I thought so.  I have no idea if that was the truth or just a skewed perception because I was so new to lifting weights.  Herein lies a major problem that I experienced and that I hear from my teenage athletes to men and women in their 40s and 50s, there is a ton of insecurity out there about working out.

The worst is when this insecurity leads you to not want to go to the gym because you assume everyone is going to stare at you or judge you.  The truth is, no one cares what you look like as long as you don’t get in their way.  Some of my teenage athletes are afraid that because they can’t lift a lot of weight yet that they will be judged and some of my adult clients are afraid to go off on their own to the gym because they will be judged on not knowing how to lift weights or workout.

Comparing yourself to the other people around you or worrying about what people think will beat you up mentally.  You should only worry about things you can control, and never worry about “what if’s.”  The only thing you should compare yourself to is yourself.  Are you lifting more weight this week than last week?  Did you lose 2 pounds this week?  Were you finally able to run a mile or learn how to squat properly?  Did your body fat go down? 

Questions like this are what you should ask yourself, not “what will that person over there think if he sees me lifting a 10lb weight?”  The only way to eventually lift a 15lb, 20lb, 40lb, 100lb weight, etc., is to start with the 10lb.  The only way to weigh 140lbs if you are 170lbs right now is to get through the 160s and then the 150s.  The sooner you can break out of the mentality that other people in the gym are judging you, the sooner you will be on your way to your goals.