“When Did Going to The Gym Become a Personality Trait”

The fine line between having a routine and letting your routine define you

By Alexandria Zuniga

Photo by Daniel Garber

Somewhere between planning my day around my workout, hitting my protein goal, and

convincing myself that I need to “lock in,” going to the gym stopped being something I did and

became something I am. Especially with the “Halloween Arc-Lock In” officially taking control

of my For You Page (FYP), apparently now is not the time to question it but to lock in.

Initially, seeing myself become a gym person was never something I could wrap my head

around. I always felt intimidated by the machines that seemed bigger than me, how many reps

were considered “good,” and what weight each machine required for me to build muscle

properly. I knew that I wanted to feel more confident, so I kept showing up–even on the days

when “showing up” meant walking into the gym and leaving five minutes later.

Fast forward two years, and somehow I had become fluent in the gym. I knew what my macro targets were for each day and what that “good pump feeling” was.

A rest day is supposed to be part of the routine, yet somehow I still find myself feeling like I

should be doing something. At some point, the gym went from a place I was intimidated to walk

into to a place that shapes how I plan my week.

And social media does not help at all. There is always someone on my feed who is more “locked

in” than me. Someone is hitting 10,000 steps before noon, meal prepping for the entire week or

posting at 5 a.m. to get their day started. It’s their “day in my life”, while I’m still deciding if I

should finally get out of bed. Fitness has developed a life of its own on social media, and once

you’re a part of it, it’s easy to let it consume you.

But having these habits and routines isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The version of myself who

used to leave the gym after a few minutes would be shocked by the person I’ve

become today. We just need to remember that everyone’s routine looks different, and what works

for one person might not work for another. At the end of the day, progress comes from

consistency and continuing to show up for yourself.

Maybe the goal isn’t to stop making the gym part of my personality. It’s to remember that

missing a workout doesn’t suddenly make me a different person. So yes, I’ll still hit my protein

goal, walk those 10,000 steps, wear those fun gym sets, and attempt to survive my

Halloween Arc. But every once in a while, I think I can afford to log off and take that rest day.