Getting my son to exercise?

[BournemouthOrange]

My 14 year old doesn't like to exercise at all, he doesn't like PE or any sports, I struggle to get him out of the house to walk the dog or ride his bike. What should I do? is anyone else having the same problem? why do you think this is??

[Seniorschoolmum]

Ride your bike with him. Organise a martial arts class. Book some swimming lessons. Have you tried orienteering. That doesn’t cost much.

[lljkk]

What exercise do you get, OP?

[BournemouthOrange]

That's a great idea, do you think it's important for him to get involved in PE at school as well or should I let him sit it out if he's not sure he'll really enjoy doing it??

[BournemouthOrange]

lljkk, I go to water aerobics classes on a Monday evening and try to ride my bike on the weekends as often as possible

[drspouse]

Is PE optional in school? I didn't think it was an option to sit out.

What about an exercise class - circuits is quite good for learning simple weight training and people who don't like competing against others can often quite like getting their own best weight/time up.

[drspouse]

Oh and how does he get to school (and how do you get to work) - any room for more exercise there?

[BournemouthOrange]

drspouse, that's a good idea as I'm not sure that organised sports like football and such are the way to go at the moment, we drop him off at school in the morning by car before heading to work

[drspouse]

Can he bike or walk to school?

[CrookedMe]

Parkrun?

[BournemouthOrange]

I feel maybe getting him to walk to school could be a useful idea to get him more active, do you think if started biking to work that would encourage him??

[drspouse]

Yes, especially if you can no longer give him a lift!

[BlueChampagne]

Cycling together to school (then on to work) sounds like an excellent idea. Make sure you've both got decent lights, as it's not the greatest time of year to start!

[AnotherPidgey]

I loathed school PE. Team/ ball/ running sports were not for me at all, but I think it is important to plough on with it and find something more appealing out of school. For me, it was dancing and 20+ years on I remain active as it was a gateway to aerobics, yoga etc. C25k led to running and I now do up to half marathon.

Can you get anything from him to explain his reluctance? School sport can be a very intimidating experience. It's also easy to get stuck in a rut of feeling like you aren't good and feel that all sport would be like that. I find the inclusive nature of parkrun s very far cry from the school track and taunts of "lapped you, lapped you twice"

[KingIrving]

Forget the typical sport and have a look around your area for more niche sport.
DS2 is the typical athletics and squad swimmer
DS1 did:

• boxing
  
• fencing
  
• diving
  

and is currently doing :

• parkour
  
• rock climbing
  

and his greatest love: Krav Maga

[carrie74]

My DS is 11 and is heavier than I'm comfortable with. He has ASD which manifests itself in a number of ways but one is that he doesn't make great food choices (doesn't eat vegetables and only a few fruits). I can control what he eats to a certain extent at home, but he can eat what he wants at school. The rest of us are all slim, eat quite good diets, and exercise regularly, so it is quite difficult trying to keep things balanced at home for him.

In terms of exercise, he's not got fantastic coordination, and although claims to enjoy rugby etc at school, I can't imagine he's actually doing much (his grade in his last report confirms that!). Other things he does:

Trampolining club at school weekly (reality is probably not much time in the trampoline)

Tennis club at school weekly

Tennis club on a Saturday weekly

PE/games at school for 3 lessons I think.

We're out of the house for long hours in the week, and have various commitments so would struggle to fit in much else after school. Weekends they have homework, and I think they need some down time.

We try and do something active as a family most weekends - at the moment they're training for a 5k next month, so we have Sunday Runday where we all go out together to jog. We often will go for walks (not been great weather for this lately...). DS is bike phobic, so bike rides are rare and very very stressful initially, although quite enjoyable once he realises he's not going to fall off.

He loves swimming (not lengths though, just bobbing around), likes Crazy Climb (but it's half an hour away and is a big chunk of time required we don't t often have). In school holidays he comes with me to see my PT fortnightly and joins in with most of it.

But he's just not one of those boys who runs around a lot, never has been. Always much happier sitting still with a book (or whenever possible, a screen). It's not easy, and there's a part of me that hopes he'll just grow very tall and be able to carry off the extra pounds (DH is v tall so quite likely to follow suit).

So, do what you can together, make exercise a normal part of your life as well as family life (so he sees you modelling the good behaviour), and try to change small things in your life (walk when possible etc). But ultimately, they have to choose their own path, and you can only do your best.

[PerverseConverse]

Pretty sure PE isn't optional. In the UK anyway. I agree with walking to school-how far is it? And definitely get out on bikes at the weekend. If necessary no screens until the dog is walked or similar?

[bvoy]

You have to find something he enjoys. Does he like anything? Make it easy for him. Buy him some dumb bells for home. You can do an awesome workout with just dumb bells.