BEST and WORST things about the gym

Рет қаралды 28,484

5 жыл бұрын

In the wake of New Years Resolutions, I chat about not fitting in in 'health' spaces, healthy mindsets about exercise and finally learning to make peace with the gym.
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Пікірлер: 166

@Yahoodoraze 5 жыл бұрын

I went to a spin class the other day and the instructor started playing a song from The Greatest Showmen. Oh and she is a plus sized lady with god like powers. And she started singing along to it, and then during the cool down gave us a little speech about how we’re entitled to space and how we don’t need to shrink down for anyone, I almost exploded all the tears out of my face at once.

@thingslaurasays9995 5 жыл бұрын

omg this is amazing

@hanzib31 5 жыл бұрын

"I want to float in H2O" 😂

@hannahwitton 5 жыл бұрын

SPIN CLASSES WITH MUSICAL SONGS YES SIGN ME UP

@leenanorms 5 жыл бұрын

I mean tbh we might have to just run our own at this rate

@isabbygabbyorcrabby 5 жыл бұрын

You are the one person online who I actually want to hear chat "health and exercise" 💕 Everyone else plays the same broken (misogynistic) record!! Thank you for chatting honestly about this 😊

@aimeeahearne6898 5 жыл бұрын

Agree!!!

@leenanorms 5 жыл бұрын

Aw thank you that means a lot 🧡

@victoriawells2803 5 жыл бұрын

How is health and exercise misogynistic? No hate just a genuine question. :)

@isabbygabbyorcrabby 5 жыл бұрын

@@victoriawells2803 For me I find it normally centres directly around weight and perceived "attractiveness" and for many people fitness is generally marketing as being able to change your life by making you "a new woman" etc. and I just find a lot of it is about how other people see you, not actually your health.

@monkeyxpwner 5 жыл бұрын

@@isabbygabbyorcrabby it's different for everyone and it is what you make of it.

@ExLibris-Alys 5 жыл бұрын

“Government funded free gyms for all...with libraries attached”! Oh yeah, sign me up 😊👍🏻

@acidroofproductions9378 3 жыл бұрын

I second.

@JB-hl7tu 5 жыл бұрын

Nothing turns me off an exercise class faster than an obsession with weight loss. I was recently a member of a pricey, boutique boot camp style gym that was mostly women (especially moms). The head trainer was a guy in his mid twenties that could NOT stop using body shaming language for exercises. "If you do this exercise, your arms won't flap when you wave," etc. Never anything about becoming stronger, more capable, more energetic. All about losing weight and looking a certain way. I didn't renew. I switched over to a major gym chain and my first group exercise class, just before a national eating holiday, the trainer said NOTHING about burning calories so you could eat later or any other bullshit like that. In my utopia, women will go to their library gym, be given a bath sheet, and told to enjoy moving their bodies. And anyone who mentions "burning off those Christmas cakes" is given a tiny towel and forced to swim in the kiddie pool with the floating bandages.

@leenanorms 5 жыл бұрын

Joanna B lol lol I am chortling so much at this, so fab. That punishment though. Yes also this comment got me thinking about feedback - maybe we should all be emailing gyms like that and being explicit about how much we don’t like it? It would at least be something for them to bring to their staff away days as evidence, even if they ignore it. Hm, nommy food for thought.

@JB-hl7tu 5 жыл бұрын

@@leenanorms You are absolutely correct! In 2019, I'm working on being gracefully honest, so I'm going to write their corporate headquarters and give them feedback on why I left. Given the number of detox pills they tried to push while I was a member, I'm thinking it will fall on deaf ears. BUT! maybe I won't be the only one. Vive le wobbly revolution!

@amyg8176 5 жыл бұрын

Joanna B I started going to the gym like 4 years ago and now I’m a powerlifter and let me tell you, nothing makes you forget about size and weight and just makes you feel like a bad ass more than moving heavy weights around

@kitkat9532 5 жыл бұрын

Possibly the best comment I've read EVER.

@shonabeswick 5 жыл бұрын

“We’re just cool wobbly people hanging out” - this was like a Tom Rosenthal song

@CharrFrears 5 жыл бұрын

Oh crikey that ‘expectation’ of knowing how things work put me off going to the gym for sooooo long.

@emilylau4708 5 жыл бұрын

So glad you addressed how there's an assumption that people just know where everything is and how everything works. My ignorance to this has honestly been the reason I've put off going to the gym. I'm already insecure about exercise and the thought of people knowing I know nothing is terrifying! Great video!

@noraalden5501 5 жыл бұрын

"I want to float in H2O!" 😂 Preach, sister 😘

@melaniemurphyofficial 5 жыл бұрын

Loved this chat

@leenanorms 5 жыл бұрын

Melanie Murphy yeah it’s such a weird double edged sword. Holding out for my library gym!

@EllenJones 5 жыл бұрын

Oh my god I have never needed a video so much. I go to the gym mostly to calm the brain weasels but everything is about changing your body. I am lucky that my membership is subsidised because of being a student and in my borough but it's still a huge expense for me and it's not safe to run outside past 5pm at the moment. And I haven't worked up the courage to go to a class yet or properly venture to the weights section out of shame about my ability and body and like...how messed up is that?!

@MsAprilsky 5 жыл бұрын

Hi Leena, could you make a video about tips for staying safe in london and talk about the times you haven't felt safe x

@thingslaurasays9995 5 жыл бұрын

Ive gone back to your being chubby videos so so so many times so im so grateful for this video!!! Always with the nuance and self reflection and this is why youre one of the three (i think) channels i have the notification on. GYMS AND LIBRARIES FOR ALL!!!!

@amyg8176 5 жыл бұрын

Going to the gym and lifting weights CHANGED MY LIFE. In so many ways. I *love* the gym.

@jmcosmos 5 жыл бұрын

"I want a gym ...." where wobbly people can go without shaming, and not freak out about being casually naked around one another? Yeah, that sounds pretty good.

@mia.jade. 5 жыл бұрын

Glad you articulate the potential for money to be anything and the excitement but challenge of deciding what to spend it on. Great video in general. The idea of a spinning class with remixes of musicals has blown my mind.

@julietanardin6631 5 жыл бұрын

I think that everyone can find a place to exercise where they feel confortable, but finding it can be a total birch. For me I got the one thanks to a friend, we go together to a Zumba class with her mom twice a week that is filled with women all ages, from teenagers to moms with little kids to 80 year women. It’s fun, hilarious and exhausting.

@MsInescruz 2 жыл бұрын

Completely relate with the good/bad points of the gym. Hate that they push me to have "goals", forcing me to listen to "pumped up" electronic music... I just want to have a good, inviting environment to exercise so I can be healthier and happier!

@altairxiii7522 5 жыл бұрын

Leena, I cannot begin to tell you how much I loved this video!!! I've always been athletic and I love doing sports, and it makes me really happy to see my sports-hating friends figure out that doing exercise is both good to your physical and mental health. BUT I agree with everything you said on this video: there are some things that should change in gyms. I would totally love a "musical-themed" gym, and yes, bigger towels are absolutely necessary. In my gym we have to bring them ourselves, so we don't have that problem, but it makes me sad that you have to experience that everytime you go. ALSO I clapped and laughed when you said that thing about it being really healing to see other naked women in the lockers. I had the exact same epiphany yesterday at the gym, I really love being able to be naked around other people and not feeling ashamed or disrespectful. It is liberating. Last but not least, definitely with you on making gyms a public service. Free or subsidised gyms for everybody!

@literaryprints 5 жыл бұрын

I love how comfortable you are with your vulnerabilities (or perhaps how you power through - despite the discomfort). Bodies and money are two things I feel like I still harbour a lot of shame about - and you discussed both with honesty and compassion, as you always do. The content you create continues to be a gem in my subscription box - so thank you, Leena!

@meltheissa 5 жыл бұрын

THANK YOU!!! I'm recovering from two rounds of hip surgery and as part of that have been instructed to go to a gym as part of that. But I also have anxiety, and the 'gym culture' can be rather triggering - I now haven't been in a few months :-/ I like your approach of 'my health is worth it' - going to try for that for the future! Gym story time: I was the only female in the weights area, starting to do the exercises I'd been set, when this entitled body building male comes up and asks if I'm done yet. I said no, I've just started. He said he'd wait for me, puts his things down next to the bench I'm using and just waits there, half looking at me, half around the gym. Talk about off putting! Super uncomfortable, and makes me want to go there less and less.

@nellliesommer 5 жыл бұрын

you always make such incredibly interesting videos❤️

@leenanorms 5 жыл бұрын

Thank you xxx

@OoohItSparkles 5 жыл бұрын

YAAAAAAASSSSS!!!!! right I had the most awkward time in the gym. The first one I went to had an upstairs cardio room with a few weights in the corner which is where all of the normal people hung out, and downstairs was for the big scary muscle men to bulk up. We wanted to use some weight machines (I am incapable of lifting anything) and so went downstairs, and got the dirtiest looks ever. I found it really interesting how the decoration upstairs was all light and colourful with more light pop music and downstairs was dark and colder with heavy angry music. In a way I liked it. I liked not having to stand next to people who knew what they were doing (the people upstairs were often equally as unfit as me), but I definitely did not enjoy the fact that I was shunned from the downstairs ("masculine") space

@k-m___ 5 жыл бұрын

Everything you say is just so important, to me and in general! Thank you so so much for this, I’ve loved you and your channel from high school, and your videos were (and are) so important xxxx

@Spargle22 5 жыл бұрын

I am appalled at the notion that you have to give a weight or dress size to sign up for a gym! This is such an unhealthy and unsustainable way to approach exercise and what put me off of going to a regular gym for years!!! I can understand if they wanted some sort of trackable goal related to performance like being able to run a mile in a certain amount of time or do a certain number of squats but relating fitness to weight and body size just makes me so mad!!

@fuzzycatbutts Жыл бұрын

A lot of gyms take health metrics because they can be liable if you have a health issue on their property. And there are some people who are too large to safely use certain equipment--the gym staff need to be aware of their clients' weights for a variety of reasons.

@kimcartwright1512 5 жыл бұрын

Don’t you just love it when someone just clicks with you and your mindsets match, it’s bomb!!

@Louise90634 5 жыл бұрын

This is the video I didn't know I needed. Brilliant video. Your talk on occupying different spaces and feeling threatened is so important and not spoken about enough! X

@jacquileather1329 5 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much Leena, I love everything about this video!!! As a person who has stayed away from gyms previously for mostly similar reasons to those you describe ($$$, the weird culture, 'just exercise in nature!'), it's really valuable to hear the positive aspects of gyms coming from someone with the same concerns as me.

@123RileyRoe250 5 жыл бұрын

Love you Leena!! ❤️ As always so insightful! Thank you for sharing your feelings.

@anna-maymoon1001 3 жыл бұрын

Omg why couldn't I have found you last year?! THIS would have made me feel so much less weird about going to the gym. Like I've been before with my family when I was like 15 [insert long diet culture anecdote here] and it was always weird bc we lived in a small town and I would see someone from my class pretty much EVERY time. Like most people, I was an easy target and being in gym kit in front of my peers without a teacher yelling at us was the absolute worst. Oh and my family being there, with me, on the weekends, as a 15 year old. 👌 Store that feeling in a bottle and let it age for 10 years and you end up with someone who can't fit into their clothes anymore cos shit adult life is hard and chocolate is nice, and then feels SO anxious about going to the gym. Then throw in some space age doors and machines you can vaguely remember how to work and a weights section filled with men. Brother: " you are literally armed with a weight, if a bloke tries something on, knock him the fuck out" Me: *has had it instilled in me that you can't hurt the other person even if they're a dick head and deserve it and also I might accidentally kill someone* okay, but are there any moves that don't require squats? To this day I've not been in the weights section bc it's genuinely not worth the anxiety. But I go bc I have no energy if I don't and if there's a zombie apocalypse I'm going to be ready. Or if I get sent back in time and have to do some adventure stuff I'm going to be ready. Or I would have been if COVID didn't ruin everything...

@MiriLikesYoutubing 5 жыл бұрын

Personally I go to the gym mainly for my mind. I find it so so good for my mental health and then any positive body health/ aesthetics is just a bonus!

@katiiee3000 5 жыл бұрын

This is so real! Yes Leena. These experiences are so similar to my own. Glad you’ve found a safe space too.

@matildev152 5 жыл бұрын

I love this video! Really refreshing to hear your perspective.Thank you

@goldybutt 5 жыл бұрын

Honestly you’re so bloody inspirational it’s unreal.

@ceebee1461 5 жыл бұрын

I needed this. Thank you. And have a Happy New Year!

@Hedbasch 5 жыл бұрын

This was LOVELY, thoughtful and actually helpful. Also, that swimming costume dryer does sound like magic.

@kittynekocat 5 жыл бұрын

This video was great! Thank you!

@stephberg288 5 жыл бұрын

I fully understand the fascination with swimsuit dryers! I swam competitively for about 10 years and worked in pools throughout my teenage years. It wasn't until I got to college that I had access to a nicer pool (my old pool had cracked tile, moldy showers, very gross locker rooms), and one my favorite parts of is the swimsuit dryers!

@leenanorms 5 жыл бұрын

Steph Berg honestly I didn’t realise how much of a game changer it would be but ddammmn !

@pinkgirl394051 5 жыл бұрын

i really nededed to hear this perspective omg thank u!

@laurabeare4256 5 жыл бұрын

Yes Leena! Deciding I was worth it was the biggest step towards me actually getting (and using) a gym membership.

@the.emma.martens 5 жыл бұрын

Thank you for making this video, I always love to hear your opinion on things :) It's really great that you've not only talked about what you enjoy about the gym but also what you feel can be improved. A lot of people who go to gyms only notate the positive, but if only good vibes come from a gym session, then why do most people (myself included) not attend one? It think a lot has to do with comfortability, I know that's why I don't go, and I'm really grateful that you mentioned some things that still make you uncomfortable at the gym. All in all I just wanted to show my appreciation re:this video. Hope you have a great new year Leena!

@WaistHighView 5 жыл бұрын

This was super interesting, thank you! I currently just use the excercise bike I have in my room. I've thought about joining a gym, and felt resistant because of the money (I thought there's other stuff I'd much rather spend that on), but this made me realise how self-conscious gym/pool situations have always been for me. I can feel people's curious stares, especially in situations like getting in and out of swimming pools; having to use these massive chair-lift things, and feeling those eyes is the worst. I think I need to reflect more on it, it might be playing a bigger role than I thought in why I haven't been swimming in a very long time... So thanks!

@daniquedijk7989 5 жыл бұрын

This video really inspired me to go to the gym more often! I have a membership somewhere but i find it so difficult to go because i feel really self conscious of my body and i hate going alone. Ps. I watched a 3 minute ad without skipping so you can get your coin 💪🏻

@ChloeChloeChloe675 5 жыл бұрын

Another really well put together discussion which I really needed to hear! The thing that stops me exercising is all the “you already know how to do this” stuff. I get anxious about planning ahead and really knowing what I’m getting into. It’s one of the reasons I don’t do a lot of regular exercise. I’m glad I’m not the only person this bothers.

@avis5461 5 жыл бұрын

So much of what you said resonates that it is legitimately making me sad. All the things you said you hate were things I experienced at the gym in the beginning of 2018. And for 4 months I dealt with comments by trainers and random strangers in the gym and it was all so irritating and annoying that I gave up; knowing full well that I needed to go to the gym and it would help eventually. But I guess I never found a gym where I can go despite the things that irritate me. I love your videos especially for all these great truth bombs you drop. 💕

@BreakingProtocol 5 жыл бұрын

I joined the gym a few months to take up weight based training as a way to injection exercise where I wasn’t doing much! I try to see it like doing my food shop - something that needs done to maintain a good life. Sounds like you’ve found a healthy way of looking at it for you so that’s awesome!

@joannahenry7112 5 жыл бұрын

you make such WONDERFUL videos! Thank you

@bellabiddle2902 5 жыл бұрын

I love this! After years of being in and out of hospital for eating disorders I am finally trying to build a different relationship with my body, food and exercise. Getting into watersports (think sailing, surfing) and yoga which can't be measured in reps and sets has been key for me, but so has the discovery of how much running + swimming calm my mind. I feel like I've been from one extreme (underweight) to the other (just fuck it) and felt good at neither end, so challenging my capacity to love my body healthy, rather than exercising from a place of loathing is something I'm keen to explore in the new year. I'm lucky enough to have a gym (super limited) included as part of my uni campus, and feeling safe and also nearby to my gym has been a really big motivating feature in moving a little bit more.

@rooosewell 5 жыл бұрын

I almost didn’t watch this because I’m so put off by the whole gym-culture weight loss stuff but I’m glad I did watch! Thanks for sharing your experiences and insights - made me think a lot about new ways of exploring gym going

@ameerahalgohary 5 жыл бұрын

I loved this video ❤️

@quinnrhodes3617 4 жыл бұрын

"If there was a spin class that played remixes of musicals, for instance, I would be there." This is a GENIUS idea and something I'd also definitely do.

@kitkat9532 5 жыл бұрын

It makes me so sad when people don't exercise because when they have, they didn't 'lose weight' or get their 'dream body'. Exercise shouldn't just be about what you look like- anybody reading this: you have far more to offer to the world than just looking good. You should do exercise because it is good for you, it makes you feel happier mentally (after doing exercise, your body releases endorphines which make you feel hApPy!). I hope and pray that people stop working out just to lose weight, and start working out because it makes them feel great. Love this video- feel like you're the only down to earth vlogger on here sometimes!

@foolishoats 5 жыл бұрын

Naked Lady Changing Rooms!!! I was so happy when I went to my local YMCA that there was nakedness and a complete absence of shame, or body-consciousness that was not positive or neutral. This was a lovely video, especially, as you say, for this time of year. Also very important notes at the beginning about safe spaces for women to operate and exist when they want to exercise outside. I'm very, very privileged to be able to live and work in a place where there are many, many safe places outdoors (and indoors, like a free gym at our local health centre) for me to exist in, in the ways I *want* to exist in it. That, in and of itself, would be a great perspective to come from when gyms are attempting to market to members. Thank you for sharing 💖

@sharlotte003 5 жыл бұрын

Great video - it made me think about exercise in a way I hadn't before, particularly in regards to things like the safety aspect. Once you talked through it, it really resonated with me but it was something that had always been affecting my exercise lifestyle, which I had never given words to, if that makes sense?! I'm not sure if I'm explaining this well but overall I just wanted to say thank you for this very thoughtful video :)

@danilp9097 5 жыл бұрын

Super helpful 😊💕

@lucyoldstudio 5 жыл бұрын

I feel like we go to the same 'brand' of gym as so many of the things you mention are issues I have with mine. It is very goals oriented and 'clubby' in the extreme! Though it makes up for it on the quiet days and the ability to swim/steam. One thing I would recommend for classes is to buy some cheap foam earplugs. That way you still hear the instructor but it puts you in a little bubble so you can focus on the class and your own body. Rather than getting stressed out by the loud music. I felt weird at first but noticed more and more people starting to wear them - clearly, they have the music too loud... As a fellow PCOS 'sufferer' (don't know how else to put it!) I really relate to a lot of what you are saying here. It is so refreshing to hear it from someone else. :) Good luck with your gym journey, I hope you thoroughly enjoy your new year and get to move your body (and mind) in peace and at your own pace!

@Georaga 5 жыл бұрын

So... I'm going back to my gym for the first time in a year. I liked it more than I thought I would but dropped it as a priority and I've finally reached a point where I'm super uncomfortable with my body... especially considering I'm in an industry like KZfaq and airsoft where there's more pressure to be "fit". I'm excited to get back to enjoying my 6am gym times... I think... I hope. I AM! It was nice to hear you talk about it all :) Thanks Leena

@luke28 5 жыл бұрын

Very recognizable! Especially the personal training experiences, culture and the pushing for goals and numbers. The put me of any time! If I could only go to a Gym where they play classical- or jazz music! Thank you for also pointing out the good things! Maybe there is still hope for me to feel good and save as a woman over there!

@nowitsclear 5 жыл бұрын

Feeling- and form-based exercise are the best. Form, warm-up and cool downs are what make your routine healthy and sustainable on the long term ✊

@annatucci7631 5 жыл бұрын

This is a v helpful video!! I haven't found a good way to exercise since high school sports.. I'm very intimidated by the gym but perhaps it's time to go for it! I really miss exercising but it is so difficult to find something that works for me

@Katiesgotmail 2 жыл бұрын

MUSICAL SPIN CLASS SPEAKS DEEPLY TO MY INTERESTS

@Graceismad96 5 жыл бұрын

THANK YOU

@thememoryguardians 5 жыл бұрын

I relate so much to this. Towards the end of 2017 I decided to join a gym and I have put the membership on hold a few times because I lose motivation or just can't be bothered, but this inspired me to take it off hold and start going again :)

@cookyourhead 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks for making this video! It’s interesting to hear your experience, I’ve always been a bit sceptical of gyms and, like you, not felt part of the target audience/welcome in a gym. Also cos I have a weird relationship with exercise and gyms are part of that for me.

@MVTay 5 жыл бұрын

This video is so on point. I especially connected with what you said about just seeing other women's bodies in a 'normal' setting. I've been living in South Korea for three years now and the culture around nakedness is so different from the UK. There is a spa culture here where mums and daughters and fathers and sons will go to a spa together usually every week and just chill out naked in pools for an hour or so. As a British woman when I first walked into the gym changing room I was so baffled and embarrassed by how these women would stand and do their makeup and hair for half an hour completely nude, and then there was me in the corner putting on my bra under my shirt. After three years I have completely changed my mindset around nakedness and my relationship with my body and bodies in general is so much healthier. That sense of otherness that I used to feel from looking at photoshopped magazine images and instagram posts has been completely erased. So long story short, more casual nakedness please!

@leenanorms 5 жыл бұрын

Maddy Taylor this is a manifesto I can get behind !!!

@Jatlu1337 3 жыл бұрын

In Sweden we have a lot of "outside gyms" everywhere in parks and next to housing complexes. They are obviously not as good as an indoor gym with a pool and nice changing rooms, but they are free and feel safe to use. Do you have that in the UK?

@loveboy4351 5 жыл бұрын

I am usually on of your silent subscribers but this is an absolutly awesome video. I love this. I felt exactly the same when I paid 20 quid more for my gym then my friends but I just liked the staff and the luxurys there fare better. I am now 4 years into my gym journey and in the last two years I also adjusted my eating. first with weight watchers which helped me loose quite a lot of fat and then with rpstrength which makes me feel like an athlete. you talk about the expense and luxury of fitness in your videos. Personally I found that I have spend less on grocerys and clothes in the last two years then before, more than my gym membership. I do not need new clothes because I feel comfortable in my old ones but more so in my body. I do not throw my food away because I plan what I want to eat 70% of the time. your chubby video is one of the few ones i have seen multiple times because it is one of the most honest and relatable videos I have seen on here much love Louisa

@carinamancinone8724 5 жыл бұрын

The goals question stumped me too as my decision to join a gym had nothing to do with physical aesthetic ‘goals’ either. I fell into consistent exercise after finding it was an excellent stress release after a tough year, and also being advised by my neurologist that resistant training would greatly help prevent muscle deterioration (a side effect of my chronic medical condition). I never thought I’d ever set foot into a gym, but It has helped me in so many ways mentally and in my belief that I can work with my body and my condition in ways to make it stronger and healthiest. I love your insights!

@alicezozo1 5 жыл бұрын

I leaned forward at "it's a long story"... I want to Know!! Also I love you thank you for this video

@HaleyShealy15 5 жыл бұрын

the. towel. thing. UGH. I agree so much with that.

@EllenJones 5 жыл бұрын

Also like the gym itself makes so much difference. My membership has 4 gyms in it and each one is completely different in vibe and demographic so its definitely worth trying a few out

@MissTwilightHater 5 жыл бұрын

Great video. I recently got diagnosed with PCOS too. I would love an update video

@maika5556 5 жыл бұрын

This just made me realize how lucky I am that my uni has a really cheap and reaaaally extensive offer of all Kinds of exercize classes (and that I can go for a run at 9pm and feel save in my neighborhood)!! It's the first time that I started to enjoy exercise (I also have PCOS and exercize/being in my body just never felt very good), because it's super low-pressure and there are so many different classes, so that there is something for everyone. Thanks for this awesome video!

@dealwithitsunshine 5 жыл бұрын

Love this! I've only recently (in the last six months or so) started going to the gym regularly and seeing it as an environment where I feel comfortable and like I belong. Started off with the little uni gym, progressed to the PureGym near my parents' house (wholly recommend!) and, now that I've moved to London, I go to a cheap gym ten mins walk from my house. It is not glamorous at all (the ceiling above the weight machines leaks like crazy so you get rained on a bit which tbh is alright when you're really hot and sweaty) but the staff are lovely. If I'm stuck I know I can just walk up to them and be like "hi I'm new, how does this work?" and they'll spend time with me explaining everything. Plus no problems with any of the people who go there either! It's fab!

@dealwithitsunshine 5 жыл бұрын

Also I've recently joined an amateur touch rugby league to try and get fit, meet new people and learn new skills, which is great! BUT it's a mixed league which, while fab and inclusive, comes with a whole host of other gendered issues I was not expecting -_-

@cfloster 5 жыл бұрын

LOVE this video. I am also plus size girl who just wanted some fucking muscles for once and so for the past few months I've been going and it has been AMAZING. 1. have a basic plan of what you want to do 2. look up youtube vids about how to do exercises you don't know have to do 3. Focus on getting stronger and moving. It really really improves mood.

@BeautifullyReckles 5 жыл бұрын

I'm only 3 min into the video but I so relate to this. The feeling unsafe exercising outside but not feeling comfortable in a gym setting. I eventually joined an all female gym which changed the whole experience for me and made me feel so much more comfortable exercising. I would love a class that played only musicals! Leena starts her own gym 2019 : )

@ellenannmary 5 жыл бұрын

I had a similar experience ! There’s a really cheap gym on the other side of the city all my friends go to, but because I can’t drive, it’s a real effort to get up there. I pay a bit more to go to my old school gym because 1. I can walk there. 2. It reduces the panic about not knowing where things are or how they work because I’m already familiar! I’m way more likely to go if I remove as many barriers to my motivation as possible

@candyisreading8813 5 жыл бұрын

LMAO I was just trying to motivate myself to go for a run and this video just came up 🤣😭

@meganwilliams8144 5 жыл бұрын

Loved this! Last year during my gap year I used my local council gym all the time! I used it because it was full of older people / bigger people other than 'gym buffs' that go to my other local gym. Now I'm in uni I've stopped because the uni gym makes me feel uncomfortable and I can't really afford any other ones. I really want to start going again though because it did make me feel good.

@albaruizdunbar4565 2 жыл бұрын

this made me feel less alone

@ROBBLEROBBLE16 5 жыл бұрын

This was such a pleasure to watch. I worked in a community gym for six years, and only recently joined a different gym (moved countries!), and this hits on so many of the hidden perks, the real reasons that people go to the gym. Community, wellness, space, connection, movement, so on and so forth. And you're right, there is privilege in having access to a safe gym! I took for granted that I was in a gym everyday, that I could commute 10k a day on my bike, until I was faced with a massive language barrier, short days, isolation, and a previously-unknown height of disordered anxiety, and I realized how much I'd relied on that exercise to keep me well. Cheers!

@natassa9297 5 жыл бұрын

I got so inspired to join a gym now that I started a fitness playlist? Leena, your MIND

@leenanorms 5 жыл бұрын

Natassa K I have made monsters and I love it x

@northeastgirl100 5 жыл бұрын

Hi! I really enjoyed this video. I am a "straight-sized" female (about US size 4-6), and I have also experienced gym towels that are too small or barrrellly close around me. I don't shower at the gym these days but I always chalked it up to a cost savings measure on the gyms part and smaller loads of laundry to have to do. My solution would just be to toss my own full-size towel in my gym bag!

@kimcartwright1512 5 жыл бұрын

with library’s attached 😂😂

@Catmum1998 5 жыл бұрын

I haven’t properly exercised since school (6 years ago) and I have zero stamina or strength so joined a gym just before Christmas and finally got a chance to go yesterday. I was surprised that I didn’t hate it 😁 I was worried about feeling really intimidated and self conscious but all the cardio machines had a tv attached for people to log on to Netflix so nobody was paying any attention to each other.

@theuncommonviewer 5 жыл бұрын

Wahoo! I joined one too. Always feel a bit sheepish doing it still. My gym in London is a budget franchise gym and has one tiny weighing scale tucked out of the way which is great. Also had a Christmas party which was weird but actually great because you meet people that live locally which is so nice. No pushy staff either because it's so budget that they don't really have many. Security lanyards which you can carry with you and press to make security track you if you feel unsafe. So great! Aren't the little towels they give you for the equipment?

@RoisinsReading 5 жыл бұрын

This was a really interesting video, I much preferred the feelings based rather than results based angle. I think the results thing is often quite unhealthy. Was wondering if you’d read health at every size by Linda Bacon, or looked into HAES at all? Helped me with looking at exercise and food for health and not “results” and is also interesting for me in regards to size and health and the link or lack thereof.

@amyg8176 5 жыл бұрын

Yalllllllll need to look into powerlifting because you can be a badass competitive athlete (if you so desire) and your body can look like LITERALLY ANYTHING and it’s so inclusive and fun and makes you feel amazing

@meliazeaman2772 3 жыл бұрын

Canadian mars bars are life

@fokyoursocks 5 жыл бұрын

Luv dis

@annamonson212 5 жыл бұрын

I got extremely lucky that when I was in high school my mom intervened and invited/forced me to try the gym she goes to. She had shopped around and specifically found one that was focused on instruction and is family friendly (it's a super small gym so there's like a kids room with a tv I love it) and is very chill about offering goals and challenges related to eating and weight. They're there if you want but the coaches did not push them and let you focus on personal progress. (Plus it turns out I really like the control of weight lifting???). When I moved to college I got super unhealthy because I left that gym to try and just do whatever.... at college... and then didn't do anything because I hated having no instruction, I felt surrounded by strangers and I didn't have a way to log my progress in a not brain spirally way. Watching this video made me go ohhh that's what I like about this gym, that's what I need to look for. Maybe I'll have better luck this time when school starts back up again :).

@emmaemma6641 5 жыл бұрын

Lena I think it is so hard to motivate yourself to excersise when you know that your body will always struggle with weight. I'm a hormonal mess and have gained weight due to pre diabetes..fibroids..enlarged uterus and to name a body goal feels utterly pointless. Good for you to keep going! I wish you well. Be safe and have fun xxx

@Maggie.can.hug.every.cat. 5 жыл бұрын

oh my god yes the club music stresses me out so much and then if I'm working out and then I'm breathing heavy and the music is so damn loud and in your face I've had to leave places like that because it triggered panic attacks like how about silence or just turning the volume down so I can choose my own music (or audiobook) to work out to

@kimcartwright1512 5 жыл бұрын

Omg spin classes with musicals!!!

@saramartins95 5 жыл бұрын

This is exactly the kind of video I needed! I started going to the gym recently and I do enjoy the exercises that I chose to do but friends/colleagues who need to state/selfie everytime they go somehow ends up putting me off going myself. I've also had a similar "what's your goal?" convo (it's part of the entry package ) and when I said it was for mental health the (woman) personal trainer just had no response for me, which was very disappointing

@OnaSalvatFebrero 5 жыл бұрын

Yes to how freeing it is to see women just... existing while naked, regardless age/weight/appearance in general and in a totally not sexualized context!! it's definitely an interesting thing for me too and I also hesitated to share 'cause it sounds creepy but it was nice hearing it from you!!

@Harri_James 5 жыл бұрын

Looking forward to starting my new job for numerous reasons but a large part is getting access to a staff gym which has actual affordable membership (unlike every other gym in London).

@vildekm 5 жыл бұрын

I've never been a gym member so it's v interesting to hear about your experience! I hate how society's obsession with looks is so tangled up with exercise. I have a thyroid condition and it's v similar to PCOS when it comes to weight, it's tricky. I'm happy i have space in my bedroom to work out ! I was always repulsed by ~gym culture~ and i don't want to be around others while working out bc it would be distracting (+the music ew). Right now i'm sticking to Fitness Blender and Yoga With Adriene videos here on KZfaq haha. My main reason for working out is my mental health, i truly feel more balanced when i am doing it regularly

@niki151416 5 жыл бұрын

it might be a czech thing or what ever, gut every time i go to the gym, nobody ever cares about what i´m doing or how i look/care if i´m a women or a man, the people there just go around their workouts, when i started (i was going to a very small gym until i moved cities) i was really glad that one guy noticed that i had really bad form on some exercises, so he came up to me, told me what i´m doing wrong and showed me too, i was SOOOOO glad he did, what i learned from that is, that some people might look at you just because they might just want to help you you also talked about the personal trainers and measuring you, asking you about your goals (they do that so YOU can track your progress and to, if you are interested, create a program for you based on your specific goals) well just tell them you are not interested in their help and if you change your mind, you will contact them, that is no big deal. You don´t have to be intimidated, scared or feel bad about yourself in the gym, nobody actually cares, also the most buffed dudes and fittest girls had to start somewhere too, same as me, so if you are dedicated and really want to change your lifestyle you do it no matter what, there are no excuses, just your mind stopping you, had to learn that too. There is no "it´s harder for girls to go to the gym" they have the same, if not bigger insecurities about their bodies as we do.