Stick it to your PE teacher

[sniffle12]

Anybody with a truly dreadful experience of PE who is now loving exercise care to share their stories?

I have asthma and our PE warm up was to sprint round the field. All the asthmatics were already struggling 3 minutes in, and the teachers never asked how they could help, they just decided we were rubbish. Cross-country again was just 'start running, keep running till we say stop'. No mention of key things like breathing techniques or pacing (you know, actual teaching). I decided at about 11 that I was just unfit and rubbish despite being a slim, energetic girl who had loved PE at primary school.

In the final two years if you hadn't picked PE GCSE, you just played hockey every week, no exceptions. We were taught in a group of 45.

Fast forward and now I'm just finishing Couch 2 5K, I run three times a week and now I've taught myself pacing and breathing I can run even with asthma. I regularly play badminton with DH, do YouTube yoga, and go trampolining. I'm absolutely loving being active and finally being in tune with my body and feeling that it's working with me not against me

Gosh I wish someone had actually taught me to exercise at school rather than the ritual humiliation of just teaching team sport. These days I am a competitive powerlifter and I run a lot. But none of this happened until my 30's thanks to a decade of being told that I was hopeless at sport because I couldn't hit a ball with a hockey stick, wearing a pair of knickers in the rain.

Bananana, I have signed up for an obstacle mud run too, in a rush of blood to the head! Supposedly for beginners. I am 50. I do circuit type gym classes and other stuff but I have never been a great one for heights - am much better now but I could do with some practise at slides or jumping or climbing over things. Other than the outdoor wooden things in parks, I can't think of anything. What are you planning to do, if anything? Sorry for hijack, OP.

I'm an obstacle course addict now - got the Rat Race this weekend!.
In terms of practice - the best things you can do is use the climbing frames in children's playground for instance. Playgrounds are also useful in that you can use them to practice pull ups, chin ups, inverted rows, box jumps depending on what's there.

Also check if there is a climbing centre near you - climbing walls and bouldering rooms are excellent places for a good workout - they will help you get over your fear of heights.

A big thing is grip strength - this is critical for any strength/bodyweight exercise and a useful diagnostic tool for things like are you overtired or your overall condition. I'm doing towel chin ups and towel added inverted rows to increase mine off of the door bar. Heavy 'farmers walks' and plate pinch are other exercises you can do.

I measure my strength by squeezing my scales at home - I want to beat 40 kg equivalent - one target is to be able to squeeze your bodyweight equivalent but I am some way off that!

Oooh thank you. Gulp. I am not sure I can do a single pull up or chin-up! I do press ups, burpees and box jumps (low - I lose my nerve) that sort of thing at the gym, and some weights, and am going to try to do some TRX classes. Climbing centre - brilliant idea - I can get my dd to take me bouldering in the summer as she loves it. I am doing the race with my dd and dh and apparently it is fine to go round obstacles.

You can work up to chin ups (easier than pull ups at first) by inverted rows and if you can hold yourself up safely on the bar, negative reps.

Also for box jumps - don't jump down after jumping up - that will help preserve your Achilles tendon.

It took me 6 months to do my first chin up btw. I can do 6 consecutively now with a decent ROM and 3 pull ups now.

Thanks, Geek, really helpful.

Yes, it would have been nice back last century to actually have tuition if you couldn't do things first time like:

Can't do high jumps - skipping ropes and box jumps

Can't do chin ups - chin up progression

Can't do rope climbs - weighted rope pulls over a frame but no there was something of the 'you're short and wear glasses and only a girl so accept being week and feeble' type crap out there.

Strangely enough barking at people doesn't magically give them the skill. And we haven't started on those who have hidden disabilities, hypermobility etc...

Better kit would have helped (minging green gym knickers and skirts).
Yes! Was brown knickers and skirts for us - or just whatever knickers you were wearing if you didn't have your kit. But now I'm in my 30s I enjoy cycling.