Regardless of your physique, if you are 400 pounds or 100 pounds, going to a regular commercial gym for the first time can be intimidating as hell.

And that’s only if you can get yourself to use 20 Seconds of Courage (A Nerd Fitness rallying cry) to walk in the door!

I know many people who say “gyms are not not for me,” or “gyms are dumb” and never even go into one, simply because gyms can be scary/not welcoming/not cool.

Now, if you CAN work up the courage to walk through the door, you’ll be faced with the following:

• People with pained looks on their faces dutifully using machines that somewhat resemble medieval torture devices.

• Others on cardio machines, treadmills, and ellipticals, and you can already picture yourself wiping out and ending up in a YouTube fail montage.

• Really strong jacked people picking up heavy free weights so effortlessly that you can’t help but instantly compare yourself to them…and get intimidated.

If you struggle with self-confidence, or you don’t love how you look, you might assume that everybody around you will be judging you the whole time and don’t want to subject yourself to this torture.

In fact, you might think that somehow you need to get in shape FIRST, and THEN you can go to the gym…

Wrong!

You go to the gym TO get in shape. And I will get you there.

If you are going to start using a gym, here are some truths you need to know:

1. Everybody around you is just as self-conscious as you are. Yes, that super jacked dude. Or that thin (or jacked) fit woman on the elliptical. They aren’t focused on you, because they’re too busy living inside their own head wondering if everybody is thinking about them.

2. Everybody starts somewhere. You don’t look good so that you can then go to the gym. You go to the gym to get stronger, more confident, and then look good.

3. MOST will applaud you for trying. When I see somebody who is severely overweight at the gym, it makes me happy – they’re trying to better themselves! That’s freaking AWESOME. This is the mentality 90%+ of the people will have.

4. MANY will be too self-focused to even notice you. These are the dudes lifting up their shirt in the mirror to check their abs, doing bicep curls in the squat rack, and/or making sure they take photos to post on Facebook to prove they did in fact go to the gym. #Fitspo #Instagram #OtherNonsensicalHashtags

5. A RARE few will judge. Though, they’re not just judging you, I promise. They’re judging EVERYBODY around you, because they can’t help but compare themselves to others and they’re terrible people. This is no different than in real life. Screw these people, haters gonna hate, slaters gonna slate.

6. Sure, you can say “people are mean, the gym is scary, I just won’t show up.” But then, the terrorists win. And so do those people. So f*** that!.

7. Instead, this is going to be your gym mentality:

8. Accept that some people suck (like anywhere in life), and most people are indifferent or focused on being self-conscious themselves. Everybody else will applaud you for trying and being there.

9. Make an epic Spotify playlist that makes you feel heroic.

10. Wear clothes that you feel comfortable in.

11. Keep your headphones on, zone out everybody, and go about your business. Imagine you’re the only one there.

12. Use 20 seconds of courage when necessary to get you to take action.