Gym Class Ruined Exercise | Episode 39

Transcript

If you were the kid who hated gym class in school, this episode is for you.

This topic has been on my mind for a while. Because as a kid I despised gym class. Can you believe that? A personal trainer who hated gym class? I was faking sick on dodgeball days, almost launching into a full panic attack on rock climbing and climbing the rope days… if you know you know. And I’m sorry if you do know that feeling. As a kid I was not athletic in the sense that any sport that required hand-eye coordination was really embarrassing. There’s a reason I chose to participate in cross country (long distance running), dance team, and soccer. Soccer mostly because I just liked to run…I was actually scared of the soccer ball. 

And I was small as a child. Did your school ever bring in the health assessment people and weigh you and measure your height, prick your finger for some blood, and do other small assessments? The memories are flooding back aren’t they? If you were outside of the quote unquote normal range for the BMI they told you, I’m sure you remember that event quite well. In front of everyone they told me I was underweight. I had a really hard time gaining weight most of my life and it was something I was embarrassed about. Being made fun of for being too thin was unfortunately something I dealt with quite often. And I know that there are some of you who were on the other side of that assessment, being told in front of everyone that you were overweight. As children, those moments stick with you. I know they did for me. Where were the psychologists to tell these people that they were messing up children’s psyches?

Being a child outside of the norm or average, gym class was not a safe place. I was scared of getting hit and hurt in dodgeball. I remember standing in the group of kids in the back corner of the gym that would soft launch a ball so it would get caught by the opposing team and I could be out instead of continuing to play the game. Kickball was another scary one because of getting hit, or not being fast enough to make it to a base before getting out. Playing baseball and not being able to hit the ball with the bat. The list goes on. And what made it worse was that it was in front of everyone. 

Does anybody remember the presidential fitness test days? Run a mile, see how many pull ups, push ups, sit ups you can do, let’s check your flexibility….oh and did I mention it’s all being done in front of your peers again? Who, by the way, will take any small weakness and tease you about it later. Maybe that wasn’t your experience, and if it wasn’t I’m happy for you. You were able to enjoy fitness at a young age and hopefully you are still enjoying it! For the rest of us, we came to have an unhealthy relationship with exercise, whether we realized it or not. You have heard me say the word embarrassed multiple times this episode, and embarrassment will make you change things about your life so you can do everything in your power to never feel that way again. Through therapy, I’ve found that most of my negative self talk stems from trying to avoid embarrassment. Maybe you’ve found the same thing. I’m not saying it came from gym class alone, but I’m sure it added to our bank of memories that our brain now tries to protect us from. The presidential fitness test also set a very rigid standard for fitness, and if you didn’t meet it, you quote unquote failed. Sorry to the government I guess that I couldn’t lift my bodyweight in high school. Not really sure why we needed to be able to do that anyway. ALSO we were all still growing so between hormone imbalances, disproportionate limbs, and zero strength and cardiovascular training what did they expect - okay I’m done with that rant sorry lol. 

Here’s another example. We had a gym class section where we learned how to use the weight room. The sports I participated in didn’t require weight lifting (although it should have and that’s a conversation for another time). But when you take a child who has never or rarely lifted weight, and try to teach them to bench or squat with a 45lb bar straight out the gate, that’s a lot to ask! 45lbs is heavy. Maybe you have a dog or a child that weighs 45lbs, can you imagine squating or bench pressing them at the ripe age of 14? All that to say, I couldn’t lift the bar. And I wasn’t the only one. Embarrassment again. Reinforcing the negative self talk. And there were also no alternative exercises provided when we weren’t able to succeed in the lift. I believe part of the issue to be insufficient training for the gym teachers. Having gone to school for exercise science, physical education with a teaching certificate being one of the paths within that major, I hope that times have changed based on our education, and that gym teachers are more accepting and understanding about differences from kid to kid. Don’t even get me started on the lack of accessibility for kids with chronic health issues or struggling through ADHD and autism and are expected to perform like every other child. BUT I DIGRESS. 

The craziest thing about all of that was that I was still an athlete. A three sport athlete. And I felt like a failure in the gym space. It wasn’t until I went to college specifically FOR exercise science, where I learned how to properly weightlift and modify things not just for my own body but for everyone else’s. 

There are two directions that you could have gone if you had a bad relationship with gym class growing up. First, you hated gym class, but you exercise now! You didn’t magically become confident overnight, but you kept showing up in ways that felt good for you and found movement that you enjoy. This is the boat I would put myself in. I found that I enjoyed long distance, slow running, and was good at it. So I avoided lifting weights and just ran. Until I learned the importance of weightlifting, and found people I trusted to help teach me exactly what to do. You found something that you were good at! Maybe it was weightlifting. Maybe it was running, walking, pilates, dance classes, gamifying workouts, or the community aspect of group exercise classes (where the people there were actually nice and encouraging unlike your childhood classmates).

In the other camp, you hated gym class, and you still avoid working out. It makes sense… I get it…. Your association with exercise is embarrassing and uncomfortable. It totally makes sense that you don’t want to feel those things again. The good news is that exercise now doesn’t have to look like it did in gym class. You can find movement at home without a group of your peers if that makes you uncomfortable. You can start small, not trying to hit pull-ups, pushups, sit ups and a mile run all in one day. And you’re still allowed to be a beginner even as an adult. Because gym class did not do us justice. We were all expected to do the same exact thing. And that wasn’t fair. Now, you can do whatever you want, and start small. And you won’t be graded on it (thank god am I right?).

Whether you’ve been working out for years or you’ve been avoiding it… the common theme is that your past experience shaped your current relationship with movement. And the good news is, that you get to change that relationship. Some ways to do this are by finding movement that feels safe for you! What do you enjoy doing that gets you to move your body? Find one thing to start, and stick with that. You don’t have to try all of the things, and if you find you don’t like something, you don’t have to keep doing that thing! If you have no idea where to start, YouTube has a lot of great beginner workouts whether it’s yoga, walking videos, or learning how to lift weights or use resistance bands. You could also try finding a personal trainer to help you learn! Many of us as trainers strive to be a safe place for newbies to start because we know what it was like trying to start. We have been in your shoes, and we want to help. 

I hope this episode has been encouraging for you if you have ever felt like fitness wasn’t made for you based on previous experiences. You are not alone in those feelings, and your health is worth working past what we felt in childhood. Thank you for coming along with me on this episode of Talk Your Abs Off and I hope to see you on the next one!