Hello, and good morning! Welcome to the Body By Patrick podcast. My name is, Patrick Ocheni. In today’s episode, I’m going to share with you how to win friends at the gym while you’re trying to lose weight.
One of the ways to stay motivated while trying to lose weight is by building a community around you at the gym.
Even though you’re somebody who is typically excited, because “life happens”, you are going to have moments whereby you do not want to go to the gym.
If you’ve taken the time to build a community around you throughout your fitness journey, you are more likely to stay motivated during those times because you have friends at the gym looking forward to seeing you every time you come to the gym.
I’m going to now share with you seven tips on how to win friends at the gym that will help you out during moments when you don’t feel like going to the gym.
These are the same seven tips that helped me out tremendously when I was trying to lose weight a few years ago. For those of you who have not heard my story, I lost 60 pounds in 180 days. I got motivated, and I stayed motivated because I was able to win friends at the gym.
These are seven simple tips, but if you apply them you are going to see a huge difference in your level of motivation over time.
What I’m trying to teach you are practical things you’re not going to find in a personal training textbook. This is based on many years of experience as somebody who have successfully lost weight and as a personal trainer that has been helping people lose weight, get in shape, burn fat for over 15 years. Trust and believe they work, so you definitely want to take some notes.
The first thing you want to do when you are trying to win friends at the gym is, you want to workout at a same time every single time you go to the gym.
When I was trying to lose weight, I always went to the gym at five o’clock in the morning because that was a time that was very convenient for me and that I knew I could control.
For you, you can work out maybe at 12 noon during lunchtime but the key is you’ve got to be consistent with that time every time you go to the gym because people are creatures of habit.
When I was going to the gym at 5:00 AM every single day, guess what, the same people were showing up to the gym at 5:00 AM every single day. And, over time you get to notice these people and they get to notice you too.
So, the first thing you want to do is establish a time of day that you know you’ll be able to make it to the gym consistently. That’s how you start to notice people; they’ll start to notice you; and, before you know it, you strike up a conversation and you will win friends over time.
The second thing you want to do is very important. When you get to the gym, you want to make sure that you are somebody that’s focused, you’re working out hard. You’re really determined to achieve your goal. And that’s what I was able to do.
When I went to the gym, I was laser focused because here’s the thing, people who are serious don’t like to hang out with people who they seem are lazy, just want to waste time.
When people saw me at the gym, I was always working, trying to do my best and that attracted people that also were people that like to work hard.
When you go to the gym and you stay focused and you do what you’re supposed to do, trust and believe other people who have the same kind of mindset would notice.
And, invariably, they’ll come up to you and say, wow, we really like how focused you are. And that’s what happened to me too. People are always watching. But, if you’re somebody that goes to the gym and just chit chats and messes around, no person that’s truly serious about their goal would want to talk to someone like that because they’ll just see you as somebody that comes to the gym to waste time.
When you get to the gym, you want to make sure you’re training hard, you’re focused, you’re not chit chatting that way you can attract similar kind of person with that kind of mindset. You do not want to attract the wrong kind of people.
The third thing you want to do is, you want to be willing to share your knowledge with others.
Even though I was not an expert at lifting weights, I still knew certain things that I’d learned over the years when it comes to lifting weights. You’ll be surprised you know things that other people don’t know, and when you take time to share it they will really appreciate it.
The fourth thing you want to do is smile. This sounds so simple, but people don’t do it.
When you smile, you’re saying to somebody else it is okay for you to approach me. I’m not saying smile in a weird and creepy way, but just smile at people and say hello. You never know, that one conversation could strike a long-term relationship.
There are people that I met over eight years ago when I was trying to lose weight that are still friends of mine today. All I did was, I just smiled. I said, hello, we struck a conversation, and the next you know we become gym buddies.
The fifth thing you want to do is, you want to remember people’s names. You have to understand, there’s no more beautiful sound to people than the sound of their names.
Think about it, when you go to some event and you meet somebody for the first time and you tell them your name. And then, you meet that same person somewhere else in the future and they remember your name. How does that make you feel? Makes you feel special, correct?
When you meet people at the gym, take the time to know their name, introduce yourself and aim to remember their name and the next time you see them say, “Hey, hello Bob! How are you?” Wow, that will make a huge impression.
Number six is, take off the headphone when you’re working out.
I know nowadays it’s cool to have the iPhones in your ear while you’re trying to workout but, guess what, what that does is send a subliminal signal and say to that person do not bother me.
What I did personally and what I still do is, the only time I will use my headphones is when I’m on the treadmill because when you’re running, nobody can really talk to you anyway.
When it came down to actual lifting weights, I took my headphones off. What that did was say to people, it’s okay to approach me. It’s okay to want to talk to me. It’s fine. But when you have on your headphone, you simply saying to people either consciously or subconsciously stay away from me and trust and believe that is not a way to win friends.
The seventh and final tip I have for you is this, give genuine compliments.
This is so powerful.
When I was trying to lose weight, and I still do this today. Again, all the things I’m sharing with you are things that I do myself. And, that’s the benefit of working with a personal trainer that has had experience trying to lose weight.
When I would see somebody at the gym all the time and I notice that they seem to be losing weight, the next time I see them, I say, ” Hey Bob, man, you all looking great, man, you doing a fantastic job, keep it up.”
You’ll be amazed how people respond positively to that. It was genuine. It was something that was truly happening. I mean, don’t go out there and get fake compliments. If somebody is not losing weight, don’t go to him and say, oh, I see you are losing weight because they will know that you lieing. So give genuine compliment to people.
Those are seven tips guys. If you apply them, will help you win friends at the gym. And when you win friends at the gym, the gym will no longer be just a place you go to to exercise. The gym will be a second home to you, and you’re more likely to keep going, keep showing up to the gym as you try to lose weight, get in shape and transform your body.
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