What Are Your Exercise Fears?

I once had a client who was so afraid of the treadmill, she refused to even look at it, much less get on it. It wasn't just the treadmill, but any motorized exercise machine that sent chills down her spine (and, for the record, my cats know exactly how she feels). To overcome her fear, we had her drink several margaritas before her workouts.

Okay, not really, although I'm pretty sure she suggested that idea. What we actually did was start with baby steps: First, she would touch the treadmill when she came in. When she was comfortable with that, she agreed to stand on the treadmill (providing it was unplugged). It wasn't long before she allowed me to turn the treadmill on while she was standing on it and we felt like throwing a parade the day she actually walked on it.

She wasn't sure where her fear came from (was there treadmill trauma in her past?), but that fear was very real and it permeated every aspect of her workouts, which was the very reason she wanted to overcome it. As she did, her confidence grew in other areas and she was so motivated by that, she eventually became a personal trainer herself.

Fear of the treadmill may not be the most common experience, but exercise fear is very common, whether you're afraid of injury, making a fool of yourself, failure or whether you're afraid to start exercising at all.

So, what are your exercise fears and how do you overcome them? I'd like to hear from you.

Leave a comment and tell me about your experiences and how fear has affected your exercise life.

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