Canadian researcher Marianne Clark recently published an article about how shy women can be in a public changing space – like the locker room at the gym. She says that ladies go to great lengths to avoid undressing with anyone else around them. She adds that it’s “all about showing as little skin as possible.” Although she doesn’t suspect it will keep health-minded women away from joining fitness clubs, it may impact their overall experience and cause them to choose less convenient options, such as entering a bathroom stall to change.
In other public spaces, women aren’t necessarily considering their appearance or comparing themselves to others – but this thought process comes to the forefront as soon as women enter the locker room and realize they need to get undressed.
It’s not just insecure women – and it’s definitely not just you! Clark found that even women who feel very confident about their looks simply give pause when it comes to stripping down in a common area. It’s just built into women’s wiring to second-guess themselves when confronting a moment that’s all about baring their bodies.
And it goes both ways. Subjects also reported that they felt awkward when seeing others around them undressing, especially if it’s an acquaintance or someone they might see again outside of the locker room.
We know that you’re not only sometimes shy about changing your clothes in the locker room. Sometimes working out in front of others can seem nerve-wracking, too! Whether you’re comparing your body size or your technique while working out, it’s all too easy to be sidetracked by the presence of strangers around you while you’re covered in sweat and prioritizing your appearance. And let’s not forget about all of those mirrors everywhere. But don’t worry, it’s completely normal – and it doesn’t have to get between you and your workout goals. Even the most confident-seeming person standing next to you probably has the same fleeting doubts. And there are ways to overcome them.
If you’re worried that self-consciousness might impede your health and fitness development, please feel free to speak with one of our trainers for some motivational tips and tricks that can help you surpass your fears and succeed at getting the body you want.
Plus, membership to our Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym means that women have access to a ladies-only gym that can minimize the distractions and self-doubt that might particularly have to do with working out alongside men. Ask for more info!
Locker room nudity has never bothered me. To be honest, I’ve never understood what the big deal is? It’s all women, we all have the same parts, and no one is looking at anyone else anyway. I don’t intend to insult anyone, but I’ve always felt that people that go way out of their way to hide to change their clothes just look childish in doing so. They actually call far more attention to themselves by trying to hide.