Lack of Mirrors May Indicate Lack of Brains

Have you ever heard someone say, “I don’t want to go to the gym, I hate looking at myself in all the mirrors” or, “I hate the gym and all the losers checking themselves out in the mirror.” I have, plenty of times. Both of these can certainly be valid concerns, and are without doubt held by a lot of people. You may feel uncomfortable looking in the mirror at the gym, or perhaps you’re a little overweight & it makes you feel self conscious. Fair enough. I can let that slide as we’re all human and by nature we avoid things that make us uncomfortable.

However, what I won’t let slide is the gym’s that are popping up promoting the fact they’re mirror free. I believe this shows two things… One- The owner’s know how to listen to people’s fears. No worries, that’s ok. But more importantly, it shows a lack of care, expertise, and a lack of brains. A lack of care because mirrors are not there for huge muscle bound guys and girls to show off and act like clowns or indulge their ego. And a lack of expertise because they should be well aware of that fact.

What are mirrors there for then? Despite your hatred of gym mirrors, they are useful, and they should be required pieces of equipment because it increases gym safety by allowing gym-goers to practice better form. Not to mention bodybuilders are actually sports people too. Mirrors are required to perfect poses they use in competition, and despite their professionalism body builders also need mirrors to perfect their form and remain uninjured.

There’s no troubles if your gym contains machines only… the machine will dictate what form you use, but if your gym has free weights (as good gyms do), you need mirrors where you can monitor your form, and reduce your risk of injury.

To get over your fear of mirrors, I can suggest a few things:

• Just face it. Fear has been called “False Evidence Appearing Real”. Get out in front of that mirror, amongst the big guys (if there are any), and just get on with it. Facing your fear is the best and perhaps only way to conquer it. You might even find out that they’re not all a bunch of idiot meat heads after all (but some inevitably will be- welcome to humanity).
• Go gym shopping for a few months. Most gyms will offer you a week or two of free membership so you can try it out before committing. Use this to your advantage and find a gym that isn’t full of massive steroid pumping guys and make it your home. The only problem with this idea is that “meat heads” as we stereotypically call them, seek out well equipped gyms, therefore we can pretty accurately assume something is wrong with the gym if there’s no “meat heads” in sight.
• You may be able to avoid the meat head and bicep ogling population by choosing different times of day. Experiment.
• If you’re a female, and you’re more concerned about being the only gal amongst a bunch of testosterone jacked guys with no other eye candy in sight, join a female only gym, or hunt for a gym with a female gym-going population. They do exist. Or see option 1. Face your fear.
• The last & worst option is- don’t work out at a gym with mirrors. Just do like everyone else does and do steady state cardio for an hour, and then wonder why your weight fluctuates so much and you don’t permanently keep it off. See what I’m ranting about, here.

I hope you enjoyed today’s soap box. And I hope you find it useful. Remember, while I like to say everything you do should be based in having a bit of fun, avoiding the mirror may sabotage you in more ways than one.