Last night, a friend and I went to one of those free dance classes that the Colorado State University Rec Center offers, and it was so fun.

I am absolutely not coordinated and I mean that sincerely. I get all sorts of embarrassed when I do dance classes, but having my friend with me who is equally as terrible at dancing made it a blast.

Neither of us cared how silly we looked amongst the other girls who knew how to roll their hips like actual dancers. And, it was a great workout, too! I love the normal running and lifting weights that I do, but it gets a little boring after a while. Switching my routine up was great and helped me loosen up while enjoying the presence of my friend.

Honestly, I think that if you aren’t looking silly, you aren’t trying hard enough in your workout.

Maybe it’s a girl thing, but for me personally, I despise the kind of constipated looking grimace I get when I am on my last set of dumbbell curls and am struggling. So, sometimes, I avoid a weight that makes me tired enough that I have to strain and look stupid. I hate trying new forms of working out, like new types of squats or a different type of abs, because I always worry some other person will look at me and scoff for doing it wrong.

Or when I do yoga, I feel like the most inexperienced person there. And, as silly as this one is, I even get worried that I will look like too much of an over achiever if I run too fast on the treadmill.

But why!? I am at the gym to get stronger and fitter for me.

I am not there to impress anyone else or look super cool while lifting my itty bitty weights with my noodle arms. It hit me that if I don’t let myself look silly for struggling over lifting light weights, then I’ll never get strong enough to actually get to bigger weights.

If I don’t go to the dance classes that make me want to cringe, I will never get to learn something new and get a break from my normal routine. It is important, especially if you are self conscious to begin with,  to try and let that go.

At the end of the day, if you let your self consciousness determine how hard you push yourself, you will only be doing a disservice to yourself and your end goals.

Collegian Active Lifestyles Blogger Katy Mueller can be reached online at blogs@collegian.com or on Twitter at. @KatyMueller13.