Opinion: We shouldn’t feel pressured to join a gym on January 1st, go at your own pace

That time of year again...

It's that time of year again, Christmas is over, we've eaten our entire weight in chocolate and we feel an immense amount of pressure to hit the gym and burn it all off. While some of us will join a gym and actually go through with the New Year's resolution we set ourselves each and every year, the truth is that most of us won't become gym heads overnight and that's more than okay. Joining a gym can be daunting, especially if you've never gone before. It's intimidating, you might not know what you're doing and you end up feeling lost. Hiring a personal trainer to help show you the ropes is a great option and can really get you loving the gym, but it's not something we can all afford, they can be costly on top of paying for the membership itself There is such pressure put on us, especially women, to join a gym and get active once the new year hits. As if the only way to make an improvement in our lives it to work out and improve our appearances. There's one reason anyone should join a gym, simply because you enjoy going. Gyms aren't for everyone and there are plenty of other ways to stay active if that is your aim. Home workouts, running, cycling, even walking can all give you the same fulfilment but without the stress of a gym - and cost a whole lot less too. Gyms can be expensive to join, and not everybody is in a financial situation that they can fork out €50 per month on a membership, let alone hire a trainer to show you how it's done. While exercise and fitness can be wonderful for your mind and body, the pressure to act a certain way and to look like the social standards of beauty can counteract that. While it will make you feel better overall, is it worth it if you're doing it for the wrong reasons? If you're feeling like you need to join a gym as soon as January hits because social media is telling you to rather than joining because you genuinely want to, you're never going to benefit fully from it. The only reason you should ever join a gym is because you want to, not because of societal pressure.