Butterflies
Although it was a huge struggle to get myself to walk through the front door of a gym for the first time now it’s a part of my life and will always be so. One thing that totally baffles me, however, is how I react before every workout. It never fails right before a workout I’ll get really nervous. Kind of a “oh crap, what is my trainer going to put me through today?” feeling. It always goes away as soon as I start hitting the iron, but I never start a workout without feeling that way. I’ve been going to the gym consistently for months now. My trainer and I get along great. We laugh a lot and I usually feel great when I leave the gym (unless it’s leg day…blech). In all the times I’ve worked out with my trainer I only have cut short two sessions because I wasn’t feeling so great. Even those I got through 90% of what was planned. I can’t figure out if I’m getting nervous because of how I used to feel about the gym or what. I guess it doesn’t really matter since it doesn’t affect my workouts.
January 26, 2008 at 10:54 pm
That’s kind of weird? Well…think of it this way…before a fighter fights another fighter, he or she is always nervous before the match. The ones that aren’t nervous typically underestimates the other and ends up losing in the end….So maybe you being nervous is your body’s way of knowing it is going to battle. But once the battle starts, the jitters go away! Damn, I just pulled all of that out my A**! Was it at least a nice attempt?? LOL
January 26, 2008 at 11:54 pm
I like your explanation better than mine!
January 27, 2008 at 2:28 am
I think it’s probably a bit of both. With time the nervousness steming from your past perceptions of the gym will wane and the anticipation of your next workout will remain as fuel to help you put everything into it.
January 28, 2008 at 7:41 am
Sounds like you’ve got a good trainer!
I get a bit anxious, but mostly it’s related to whether or not I can beat the reps from the previous week. Once I get through my first set on the the first exercise it is usually gone, whether I beat it or not, which is kind of weird.