I Was Scared of Fitness

Our CMO Steve (far left) tells us why he joined Rabble, and why anyone can get started playing, regardless of how fit you are.

How many of you have been scared of doing something? Especially if your past experiences of it have been less than positive? Going to bet that’s most of you.

For me, that thing was exercise.

Battling with body image issues, and without even realising I was well down the road to anorexia, I realised I needed to make a change and begin a healthy relationship with my body and my fitness.

Trying to hunt for something active that wasn’t going to make me feel even worse was tough. Team sports felt too exclusionary, the gym wasn’t motivating, and being shamed by a bootcamp would’ve turned me off even more.

Then I heard of Rabble.

…and I did what most people do. Stored it in the “that sounds cool” part of my brain reserved for all the things I’d like to do, but put off.

A couple of months passed, and then saw an opportunity to work with Rabble. Having gone through the initial stages of deciding whether or not to come along, it seemed like the perfect challenge to work trying to help more people overcome those barriers and start playing!

As anyone with low self confidence, or some level of social anxiety knows, trying something new can sometimes be more apprehension than anticipation. But it can be overcome. I managed it. You can too.

Even after several months with my face on the Rabble Team page, the self doubt does still creep in.

But now I can silence it.

I know everyone I meet will be friendly.

I can pace myself and no one’s going to judge my ability.

It doesn’t matter if I fuck up, it’ll still be fun.

I’ll also get fitter doing it.

Obviously, you’re going to assume I’d say this – I work for Rabble after all. My answer will be (shockingly) to urge you to try it. Don’t leave it in the “that sounds cool” zone, alongside that wine tasting course, or chicken nugget yoga you totally saw online.

Once you come along, you’ll realise that it doesn’t matter what level of fitness you’re at. Whether you’re a confident runner looking for a different way to train, or a recovering anorexic with social anxiety who’s avoided fitness for a decade – you’ll have fun with a great bunch of positive people, and get proper exercise out of it too.