Finding a gym that fits....

I had a conversation today that made me want to scream and to cry....
A new client at the gym has a friend who would love to come with her and get fit and healthy....
So why doesn't this 23 year old woman do just that...
Because being 23 and weighing 130kg is so embarrassing that she can't bring herself to go to the gym because she is terrified that she will be looked down upon by the "skinny, fit women"...

I just wanted to run to her house and sit her down and talk to her, tell her how much I can help her, how the gym I work in is not like that at all, how I would do anything I could to encourage her to start doing something, anything that would help her to live a long and healthy life and to be proud of herself for just being herself.... I told the client to please try and convince her to come and see us... please!

What really annoys the bejesus out of me is that I have been there too and that after all this time there are still gyms out there that make you feel like you can't join  them unless you already don't need them or unless you can fit into some top label gym gear that only comes in a size smaller than a 10!!!

I have had the experience of seeing myself as too big to be seen in a gym... what the hell would I wear for a start??? Some huge baggy chain store T shirt... OMG how could I turn up to the gym when I look like I actually need to be there!!! I have even gotten as far as walking up to the doorway then turning away when I saw some tiny perfectly formed womanchild behind the desk...

I look back now on the effort it took to get through the doors of the next gym, the huge deep breath, mumbled questions, embarrassed answers, and the horror, total earth shattering horror of being told I had to stand on the scales, in public, in what seemed like the middle of the gym!!!! Then the tape measure, the cruel unbelievable tape measure..... I still cringe just thinking about it... Even though I now realise that those measurements, that at the time made me want to crawl into a corner and hide for the rest of my life, were the start of a fabulous new life... Even knowing that I still shudder at the embarrassment they caused me...

I wish there was some way I could convince this young woman that it would not be like that for her, although I know that no matter what I say she would still feel the same dread I did.

Mostly I would like to find the owners of the gyms that are still run with the out-of-date-up-themselves attitude that you have to be fit to be in there and show them that with a little empathy and sympathy not only would they gain a huge number of new clients but they would actually be achieving what this industry should be all about... making the world a happier and healthier place! The fact that this is the Written Intention of Fitness Matters where I now work in is one of the major reasons I said yes to working there. No I am not promoting them I am just stating a fact

This is what it should be all about, this is what all fitness professionals should be striving for. This is why I want so badly to work in this industry. .. making the difference to just on beautiful young woman, changing just one life to a happier, healthier, amazingly awesome experience... Hell I hope I get the chance!!!!