I will be honest and take one Boutique Fitness Class Have always filled me with anxiety. Even as fitness writer and editor who has been offered their fair share of class attempts over the years, I am very healthy if those I participate, and during the days leading to that is all I think about. Will I fit in? Will I look stupid? Will everyone judge me?
I was one Crossfit Dedicated for several years, and one of the things I loved was its cruelty, its reality – none of it felt curated. We came to the class with old, big t-shirts, we sweat abundantly, we cheered on, we collapsed to the floor after intensive training, and then raised each other afterwards because we tried our best, whether we ended first or last.
When I think of the typical Boutique Fitness class you can see the influencer do on Tiktok, it feels very sterile. Thin, young girls carrying variants of the same Matching workoutMaking every movement perfect, not saying a word to each other all the time, silently competing with the person next to them. I always felt that I did not belong to such a space – a space that did not seem (for me) to be really for everyone.
Unjust or not, that’s the picture I had in my head every time my Barry’s-obsessed friend would ask me to go to a class with her. (FWIW: She is nothing that I described above, which should have been my first clue I had everything wrong.) After literal years of her asked – and then stopped because she didn’t get anywhere – I recently brought it up that the next time we hung out, I would go to a class with her. She was, understandable, shocked and did not think I would follow the class. In an attempt to get out in my own way and try new things in 2025, I did.
As usual, during the days that led to the class, my mind rolled with troubled thoughts about everyone who judged me because I didn’t have the cutest sports bra and Leggings Combo and could not run as fast or lift as heavy as everyone else. I would not realize the irony until after Barry’s class that while I felt afraid to be judged, I was the one who judged the situation based on an idea I created in my own head.
In reality, the class was absolutely good. There were people of all ages and fitness levels – which made me feel better about taking temporary walking offenses on Treadmill And with the help of light weights – and no one ever looked in my direction. It was not really a social atmosphere that I noticed, but since this Barry’s place is more than an hour away from where I live (and am the nearest place for me), I was not aware of every little detail as close as I would have if I had applied for a membership.
So I’m here to tell you: That exercise class are you so nervous about? Take it. Even if you do not love it, it will not be anywhere close to how horrible you built it in your head to be. In fact, the class can even be better than you imagined, which is what happened to me. I was most self -conscious about the fact that I had not been running for almost a year. I repeatedly asked my friend if it was okay if I went, and while she assured me it was, when I jumped on the treadmill, something came over me that made me want to run. It was not the fear of being judged by others if I went, but more of a curiosity from within – what would happen if I took up my pace?
To my surprise, I fell in love with running again. So much so that I have now joined a studio similar to Barry’s near me so that I can work on improving my running. (If I pay for lessons, I have to show up to talk myself to going on a drive on my own.) I would not have revived my relationship with this activity if I continued to let fear get in the way. And it’s growing up.
Danielle Zickl is a freelance writer who has 10 years of experience covering fitness, health and nutrition. You can find her work here on PS, and in many other publications including the self, well+good, runner’s world, outside driving, peloton, women’s health and men’s fitness.
