If raynx came to my gym she would definitely get some stares man. I've never seen a girl in my gym do any unassisted pull ups before. Hell, a girl gets stares when she does assisted pull ups.
I've got a good mind to bring u to my gym and show the young boys dicking out at the weights area just how far they have to go lol. That'll definitely be fun!
Oh and fyi you can lift alone and still progress though I do agree progression is definitely faster if u got a good workout partner

this is probably a good place to rant this out. i usually workout solo as my work forces me to adjust my gym timings and personally i prefer to train solo. Anyways, i have this inexplicable fear of big weights. every session seems to be 50% psychological war for me. thoughts like getting pinned on the bench press, breaking my back during DL, snapping my wrists and arms off during seated shoulder presses are very common, although the possibility of it happening is quite small. (but possible). i spend probably half a minute with db's already in position for lift off trying to eliminate the fear for every heavy set that i do, lol.

So whenever i have a gym buddy to train with i always make sure to stretch my weights a tad bit heavier than i would have been able to lift. but if its solo its usually fear holding me back from taking up the new db's..

anyone have this problem and if yes, how do you cope with it?

its either im a very particular or an irritating person, take your pick haha. I have stopped asking from all the ruined last sets from people 'lending a hand' while spotting.

yeah man. thats how i cope too. i would only start lifting when theres no negative thoughts in my head.

i look directly at my reflection if im facing mirror, and sometimes curse myself to get going lol. no mumblings here, aint gonna care what others are thinking at that time. my big fears are db/bb presses, shoulder DB press, and effin squats. god i hate to squat..