Gym anxiety? ‘Shy girl workouts’ could be the answer – TikTok trend helps people get over their fear of public exercise spaces
- A viral TikTok trend helps those dealing with ‘gymtimidation’ find ways to exercise even if they’re put off by beefy men or machines they do not know how to use
- An India-based fitness coach offers his tips for how to get past the fear of the gym – don’t get hung up on how others look, as ‘they also started somewhere’
A workout trend that is going viral on TikTok has found an audience with millions of women gripped by “gymtimidation” – the fear of exercising in public gyms.
Many women admit to feeling overwhelmed when walking into a gym that is dominated by men and filled with equipment they may not know how to use. As a result, they may feel anxious and self-conscious in public exercise spaces.
This is where TikTok’s “shy girl” workouts come in – they help those who prefer keeping a low profile in the gym, as well as those who would rather exercise in the comfort of their own homes.
Fitness influencers such as Brianna Joye Kohn regularly post #shygirlworkouts on TikTok, where she has 2.1 million followers, and Instagram, where she has 1.1 million followers.
She was inspired after coming across women who balked at going to the gym; either because they lacked knowledge about how to do movements like lunges or squats, or they worried that others would be judging them.
