Why the “Getting Fit Before Joining” Mindset is broken

I’ve heard this one more times than I can count.

“I want to join Project 13, but I should probably get in better shape first.”

Every time I hear it, I have to stop myself from laughing. Not because it’s silly to feel that way — I completely understand why people think this. But because it might be one of the most backwards pieces of logic in all of fitness.

Let me explain why.

The community can help you get fit at P13

Where does this belief even come from?

I think a lot of it comes down to fear of judgment. People picture walking into a gym and being surrounded by people who are already fit, already strong, already know what they’re doing. And the thought of being the slowest, the weakest, or the most out of breath in the room feels embarrassing.

Social media doesn’t help either. You scroll through feeds full of shredded physiques and impressive lifts and it’s easy to think that’s the baseline you need to hit before you’re “allowed” to show up.

But here’s the thing. That’s not how it works. Not at our gym, and frankly not at any good gym.

The logic doesn’t actually hold up

Think about what you’re really saying when you tell yourself you need to get fit before you join a gym.

You’re saying you need to achieve the outcome before you do the thing that creates the outcome.

It’s like saying you want to learn a language fluently before you take a language class. Or that you want to be a good cook before you start cooking. The whole point of coming to us is to get you from where you are to where you want to be. If you were already fit, you wouldn’t need it in the first place.

You don’t need to earn your way into a gym by getting fit on your own first. The gym is the tool that gets you fit. That’s the entire point of why we exist.

What I’ve actually seen happen

In all my years doing this, I can tell you with complete confidence: nobody at our gym is judging the person who’s just starting out.

In fact, it’s the opposite. Our members tend to be some of the most welcoming and encouraging people you’ll meet, specifically because most of them remember being brand new themselves. They remember being unsure of the movements, feeling out of breath earlier than everyone else, and walking in not knowing what to expect.

I’ve watched countless people walk through our doors nervous and unsure, and within a few weeks they’re chatting with the people next to them, showing up because they want to see their gym friends, not just because they have to train.

That’s the community piece I talk about a lot. It only works because people show up at all different levels. If everyone walking in was already fit, there wouldn’t be much of a journey to be part of, and frankly it wouldn’t be as fulfilling for any of us, coaches included.

What “starting where you are” actually looks like

Here’s something people don’t always realise. Coaches don’t expect you to walk in and do the same workout as someone who’s been training for years. That’s not how good coaching works.

Every session we run is designed to be scaled. That might mean a different weight, a modified version of a movement, more rest between sets, or a completely different exercise that accomplishes the same goal for your body. A good coach is constantly assessing and adjusting in real time so that whoever walks in the door that day, regardless of fitness level, gets an appropriate and effective session.

You being a “beginner” isn’t a barrier to training with us. It’s simply the starting point we work from.

What’s actually happening when people wait

I want to be honest about what I see happen when people choose to wait until they’re “ready.”

Usually, nothing changes. Time passes. The discomfort of being a beginner doesn’t go away on its own — if anything, the longer someone waits, the bigger that mental barrier can become. And often the very thing that would have helped them get fit, which is the structure, coaching, and community of a gym, is the thing they’re avoiding until they no longer need it.

Another outcome, that is certainly what we don’t want, is they never take a step into a gym of any kind because the barrier simply grows to the point of it being too overwhelming.

It becomes a bit of a trap. You wait to get fit before you join, but you can’t get fit without the thing you’re waiting to be ready for.

The people who make the most progress are almost always the ones who just decided to start, regardless of where they were starting from.

So what should you do instead?

Drop the idea that there’s a fitness threshold you need to cross before you’re allowed to ask for help. There isn’t one. Every single person who has ever achieved a meaningful fitness goal started as a beginner at some point. That includes me.

If you’ve been putting off joining because you feel like you need to get yourself in shape first, I want you to flip that thinking. The most efficient way to get fit is to start training with people who know how to get you there, surrounded by a community that wants to see you succeed.

You don’t need to be ready. You just need to show up.

Come try a class. We’ll meet you exactly where you’re at.

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