GYM-timidation (n.) the action of feeling intimidated by the gym, or intimidating others at the gym

When I first began to incorporate cardio into my exercise plan, it was not a simple task. Timeline: Second semester of my sophomore year of college. I clearly remember walking to the gym on my particular campus, heart beating rapidly, head held low to the ground, and music blasting through my headphones. I entered the doors, the student attendant swiped my access card and I finally stepped foot into the space I had been avoiding for so long.

As expected and unfavorably anticipated, my first sight was a group of people with enormously large biceps, clanking away at the bench-press and other heavy lifting machinery. My eyes anxiously scoped out the treadmill section of the gym. Finally, I approached an empty machine. I plugged my headphones into the mp3 function on the machine, and started the treadmill. I began to slowly increase my speed from an initial walk to a trog (i.e. trot/jog). Something happened in this moment that I will never forget...I heard the sound of my own footsteps clanking against the treadmill. In MY mind I sounded so heavy, so large, so disruptive to the gym environment. I became so anxious that I thought everyone in the gym was looking at me, laughing and secretly thinking in their minds 'What is this fat guy doing in here?' Not surprisingly, I turned the machine off and ran out of the gym, back to my dorm in the Quads and cried longer and harder than I had in a while.

I'm sure a good amount of people have experienced a situation, similar to the one that I described above. (Maybe not to the same extreme, but similar, nonetheless.)

Lessons that I learned from my particular situation:

1. No one was looking at me/paying attention to me while on the treadmill.
2. No one was actually laughing at me.
3. The mind is a POWERFUL thing.
4. From experience, most people who go to the gym are focused on themselves and not anybody else.

So, what did I do after I finished crying and feeling sorry for myself?- After many tissues and a much needed, up-lifting pep-talk from my roommate, I sat down at my computer and developed an exercise table on Word. This included different forms of exercise, such as pushups, sit-ups, crunches, dancing, etc. (Yes! even dancing!) 

As for the running? - Fortunately Spring was approaching, and the weather was beginning to warm up. Yes...in order to step my running game up, I began to run outside on a sidewalk trail outside of my dormitory in the Quads. The area had virtually no people traffic at any time of the day, and it was peaceful. For myself, that was what I needed....PEACE.

As I began to develop confidence in myself by running outside, coupled with my other dorm exercises, I realized that I did not necessarily need a gym to achieve my goals at that particular time in my journey!