More than half of Americans polled in a new survey admit that they’ve let their own self-consciousness get in the way of staying in shape.
FitRated asked 1,000 people about whether they worry about being judged when they work out — and whether they’ve ever judged anyone when hitting the gym.
A total of 51 per cent of respondents said they’ve actually skipped working out due to fear of judgement. That number jumps to 64.9 per cent among just women.
Well that’s counterproductive! Nearly two thirds of women and over a third of men have skipped the gym for fear of being judged
What, exactly, are these women worried about? Unsurprisingly, nearly two thirds said they feared being judged for their weight. Among men, 51.6 per cent said the same thing.
But it’s not just overweight gym-goers who are worried that people are eyeing their bodies with disapproval. While nearly three quarters of those who said self-consciousness kept them home from the gym described themselves as ‘not at all fit’, more than 10 per cent said they were ‘extremely fit’.
A quarter who call themselves ‘extremely attractive’ also reported being worried about physical appearance at the gym.
Those who appear to be the most self-conscious are exercisers who prefer flexible workouts, like yoga — which are typically done in rooms packed with people in tight workout clothes.
Am I doing this right? Most people reported feeling self-conscious about their weight, but they also said they worry about whether they are exercising or using equipment correctly
Ladies looking: Though both genders report it, the problem seems to affect more women than men
Though weight and body type are the biggest source of anxiety for gym-goers who fear being judged, proper form also ranks pretty high.
Well over half — 58.5 per cent — of women and 43.8 per cent of men said they feared they’d get the side-eye for improperly using workout equipment, while roughly half of each gender said they worried about improperly doing an exercise.
Almost half of women worried other ladies would size up their clothing choices (compared to 36.3 per cent of men), and 22 per cent worried they’d be judged for their choice of exercise machine.
Nearly eight per cent of both sexes worried people would judge them for looking at themselves in the mirror, while about two per cent fear being judged for taking a mirror selfie.
Checking things out: On the flip side, a third of people said they have judged others at the gym
But are people really judging other while getting their own workouts in? Well, yes.
About 34 per cent of all people surveyed admitted to judging other at the gym — and those people reported spanning the range of attractiveness and fitness levels.
Yet only 39.9 per cent said they were sizing up someone else’s weight. In fact, the most common thing they reported judging others for was clothing choice. Over a third also noticed people taking selfies and reacted unfavorably.
But as one respondent of the survey said, none of that should matter.
‘Don’t care what other people think about you,’ she said. ‘You are at the gym to benefit yourself and no one else. Everyone there is doing the same thing you are, and a good percent[age] of them deep down feel the same fear and anxiety as you.’
‘Everyone starts somewhere,’ another respondent echoed. ‘The fittest people at the gym may have been out of shape and overweight when they began, but they stuck with it.’
New gym clothes! But it seems people are most likely to notice if someone if wearing something strange than if they are overweight