The Introvert’s Guide to Going to the Gym
Tips for when you want to pump iron but also want to stay away from other people
Recently, I decided to return to the gym after quite a long hiatus from going. I’ll spare the comprehensive list of what took me so long to get back into it, but one of the main hiccups was that I didn’t want to be around other people. A significant part of my not wanting to be around other people is because of straight-up social anxiety, but it was also because I prefer my gym time to be a solitary activity, which can be hard to accomplish when faced with hordes of sweating, breathing, grunting people.
In the two months or so since I’ve been back to the gym, I’ve gained quite a lot of experience in navigating the twists and turns of willingly placing oneself in an environment that likely meets the criteria for torture for most introverts. I’ve also talked with a few fellow introverted gym-frequenters to gain more wisdom on the topic to impart. Hopefully, this “guide” can help you get to the gym or make your gym visits more painless (or just give you a place to cheer in commiseration) if you’re an introvert, have social anxiety, or just prefer to be alone sometimes (like when you’re sweating and lumbering around on a treadmill, for example). So, without further ado…
