Why I avoided the gym for years (and what changed)
Me and the gym: a love story (eventually)
For years, my relationship with the gym was simple. I didn't go. Well that’s not 100% true - I’ve joined tons of gyms but after the initial buzz, induction, and seeing different versions of the same person at every one, I knew the gym wasn’t the place for me.
So i'd run. Running made sense. You put your trainers on, you go out the door, you come back. Nobody's watching. Nobody's judging how much you can lift. Nobody's asking if you've "finished with that".
The gym was a different planet. Rows of machines I didn't understand. Mirrors everywhere. Blokes the size of fridges grunting through sets while making eye contact with themselves. The smell...
These days I'm in the gym three mornings a week at 6.30am, and I'd be lost without it. It's become a consistentpart of my training, and I'm convinced it's made me a better, more robust runner.
So what happened? And if you feel the same way I did, how do you get past it?
My four gym fears (and what actually happened)
1. "I'll bulk up and get slower." I really did worry about this. Me. A middle-aged bloke who runs a lot. Turns out building big muscles takes years of very deliberate eating and training, and running 100km a week is a fantastic way to make sure it never happens. What I got instead was stronger legs, a stronger core and a body that holds up better over 26.2 miles.
2. "I'll get injured." The irony. Strength work is one of the best things you can do to avoid getting injured. Your muscles, tendons and joints get better at handling the pounding that running gives them. Done properly, with sensible weights and good form, the gym made me more robust, not less.
3. "I won't know what I'm doing." This one was fair. Wandering round a gym with no plan, doing a few bicep curls because that's what you've seen in films, isn't much use. And it feels awful, because everyone else looks like they know exactly what they're doing. (They don't. Most of them are winging it too.)
4. "Everyone will be looking at me." They're not. They're looking at themselves. That's what the mirrors are for. In all my time in the gym, I've never once seen anyone point and laugh at a beginner. If anything, the regulars are the friendliest people in there.
What changed: Watergate Studios
In June 2023, a couple of months after my first marathon, I started training at Watergate Studios in Bridgwater. And it fixed almost every one of those fears in one go.
It wasn't a big, shiny gym full of strangers. It was small-group training, with coaches who knew my name, knew what I was training for, and told me exactly what to do. No wandering round. No guessing. No ego. Just a plan for the session, someone checking my form, and a handful of other ordinary people getting on with it.
That made all the difference. I didn't have to know what I was doing, because someone else did. I didn't feel watched, because everyone was in it together. And because I'd booked in and people expected me, I turned up. (Sound familiar? It's the same thing that makes the Club work.)
The first few sessions were humbling. I could run a marathon but I couldn't do a decent squat. My legs had plenty of endurance and not much strength. But week by week, the weights went up, the form got better, and I started to enjoy it, and now I’m a qualified Personal Trainer - talk about a change!
What it did for my running (and what it didn't)
Let me be clear about something, because the fitness world loves to oversell.
The thing that makes you a better runner is running. Most of the evidence points the same way: the biggest driver of improvement is how much running you do, consistently, over months and years. Volume. Not a secret workout, not a supplement, and not the gym.
Strength work is supplementary. It doesn't replace the miles. What it does is help you handle them, and help you hold it together when things get hard.
And I'm in no doubt it helped me. In April 2023 I ran my first marathon in 2:59. Eighteen months later I ran 2:45 at Loch Ness, which is a seriously hilly course. The easy miles I’d done in training did most of the work. But on those climbs, and in the last few miles when everything starts to hurt, the strength work I'd done at the gym was without a doubt part of why my legs didn't fall apart.
Here's what I noticed:
I got more robust. I could handle more miles without falling apart. Fewer niggles and quicker recovery, which meant I could keep stacking up the running that actually makes the difference.
I held my form better. A stronger body holds its shape when you're tired. Less wasted energy late in a run, and hills that felt a lot less brutal.
I felt better. More confident, better posture, and the satisfaction of lifting something heavier than last month. It's good for your head as well as your legs.
So think of it like this. Running builds the engine. Strength work makes the chassis tough enough to carry it.
And it's not just for runners. Whatever your goal, getting stronger makes everyday life easier: carrying the shopping, getting up off the floor, playing with the kids, not putting your back out lifting the suitcase into the car.
If the gym scares you, start here
You don't have to walk into a big gym tomorrow. Here's how I'd do it if I were starting again.
Start at home. Bodyweight squats, lunges, glute bridges, calf raises and a plank. Twice a week, 20 minutes. No mirrors, no audience, no grunting (unless you want to).
Learn the basics properly. A few good movements done well beat a hundred done badly. Follow a video, or get someone to check your form.
Find the right place. If you do go to a gym, look for small-group classes or a coach, not just a membership card and a room full of machines. A good coach is worth more than any piece of equipment.
Go at a quiet time. Early mornings and mid-afternoons are usually calmer. Fewer people, more space, less pressure.
Have a plan before you walk in. Know exactly what you're going to do. It's the wandering about that makes you feel self-conscious.
Remember everyone started somewhere. The person deadlifting twice your body weight once couldn't do a press-up either. Probably.
And if something hurts, rather than just feeling like hard work, stop and get it checked.
Where the Club fits in
The PKS Training Club has a Strength Library built for exactly this: people who want to get stronger but aren't ready for the gym, or don't fancy it at all.
The sessions are 10 to 20 minutes, follow-along, and need no kit. You press play and copy me. No mirrors, no machines, no blokes the size of fridges. And when you're ready to step it up, there are plenty of people in the Club, me included, happy to help you take the next step, whether that's adding weights at home or walking through the gym doors for the first time.
I'm opening 15 founding places at £20 a month, yours for as long as you stay a member. Get on the list and you'll be the first to hear when the doors open.
Now go and do ten squats while the kettle boils. Nobody's watching.
Have a great week, folks.
Paul
The information in this post is general guidance. If you have pain, an injury or a medical concern, speak to your GP or a physio before starting something new.
