I was speaking with someone the other day about how I had recently joined a new gym. The bloke in question was middle aged and confident - in fact he was a business man, well used to dealing with situations and circumstances. And yet, he told me that he found the whole atmosphere of a gym intimidating. This from a successful man who ran his own business.

I remember when I first joined the gym, probably six years ago. I never found the cardio section of the gym floor scary at all, nor even the weight machines. Most of the people in there were similar to me - unfit, sweat dripping from foreheads onto baggy t-shirts or skin tight lycra - happy to stare glassy eyed at the tv screens hanging above them. That was fine. It was a world that was easy to understand and easy to follow.

But every now and then I'd be wheezing away on a stationary bike, or going red in the face on the chest press, when I'd steal a glance over to the dark, shadowy and foreboding world next door. It seemed to me that only a certain kind of meathead entered through that particular portal. Maybe there was a huge doorman on the other side, checking that your knuckles dragged on the floor just so, and that your nose would never get wet when it rained because your brow overhung the requisite amount. No matter what else you might say about the guys who worked out in there though, most of them were fit and healthy. Not all, but most.

I'm speaking of course about the freeweights room. At this point I had never ventured in, and would not do so for several years to come. In that time I stopped attending the gym altogether, and even cancelled my membership for a year or two. Towards the end of my exile though, I began to realise that maybe I should be taking better care of myself, and I started picking up magazines such as Mens Health. Slowly but surely the message was drilled into me - freeweights are the way forward. Machines are fine to start with, but when you use them your movements are very restricted and often muscles are isolated, meaning that the supporting muscle structure does not grow at the same rate as the muscles and joints that they are supporting, leading to an unbalanced physique.

The problem was that the barbells and dumbells and benches were all in the dreaded freeweights room. It was an intimidating place. I was sure that I would go in there, do something wrong and everyone would notice and give each other a knowing look - "A newbies here, doing himself damage and using our equipment". It really bothered me. But the more I read and learned the more I knew I had to get over myself and get into the freeweights room.

So I did. And strangely enough people in there weren't particularly interested in me at all. Sure, I felt a little selfconscious, and found myself checking what others were doing out of the corner of my eye. Looking back, I'm sure I looked like a complete noob - poor form, lots of time hanging round while I tried to figure out what to do next. But eight months on I feel completely at home with the freeweights. I can't imagine working out without them to be honest. Plus I've made some friends in there, people who genuinely know about fitness and are keen to help others progress.

So my advice to everyone who feels intimidated by the gym is this; forget about it. It's all in your head really, eveyone at the gym is much more interested in themselves than you, and nobody is going to judge you! Just get yourself down to that gym!