What sport or fitness did your mum do?

[lljkk]

My mother was born in the 1940s. When I was a child (1970s), my mother regularly did ... swimming, tennis, jogging, cycling, softball, horse-riding, aerobics, yoga, walks. + random other fitness or sport.

My dad's mom didn't do sport, my other grandmother (short person!, born 1900s) used to coach basketball as an adult, and rode horses as a youngster. I'm not aware she did any other sport, though.

Did your mum do any fitness or sport?

A once daily short dog walk. And has been overweight/obese and had various health issues as long as I can remember. I am more sporty but worry about a lot of the ingrained beliefs and behaviours I’ve unwittingly picked up

My mum has always done keep fit classes,, whatever was in at the time. Step, aqua robics , Zumba, body balance. She also played squash, tennis and golf. Not very well though. 😂

Both mine and DH's parents never did a single thing exercise wise. DM loves gardening but isn't really much more than pottering. My grandfather loved walking though which has been passed on to me.

I now do ultra runs and DH cycles vast distances, our DC's love the gym which I'm pleased about. Certainly didn't inherit anything from my parents though!

Born in the 1930s. Does absolutely nothing, never has.

My mother and her 5 surviving sisters, born 1889-1909 had absolutely no money so any sport that required equipment was out of the question. They did however walk 2-3 miles to school and then from 13, ditto to work and back everyday.

Later my mother played cricket for her college, gardened and hiked most weekends, one aunt cycled ( and went on a hunger march from Manchester to London in 1930s, if that counts) and one played golf well into her 80s.

My mother in law, born 1909, played hockey, mixed men and women in war time.

Of course housework was much more physical then. No vacuum cleaners, no washing machines and fighting the dirt emanating from nearby factories required heavy physical work every day. I doubt looking for extra physical activity was a priority.

The ones who survived childhood diphtheria, scarlet fever, TB etc. lived to between 87-93.

None whatsoever. Born in 1960.

I’m the complete opposite and obsessed with exercise.

My mum is 75 and I remember her going out in the evenings to do badminton and then she started taking me to yoga when I was 15, which set off my life long love affair with yoga.

she now does neither but does walk the dog twice a day and I would say she is fit and healthy for her age.

My Mum was born in the mid-1940s. As a child I remember her playing badminton with my Dad and other couples. We used to go hiking a lot at the weekend as a family. Then she took up cycling quite seriously, and tap dancing, which she did into her 60s. Now she is very limited by Parkinsons, but on a good day walks a mile or so.

If you asked my children, they'd say that their Mum ran half marathons and did yoga and open water swimming. DH is also a runner and golfer, and DSs are both very sporty (one rows, the other is a rugby player).

Mum was born 1938 and dad 1934. Neither have ever done any exercise.

Later my mother played cricket for her college, gardened and hiked most weekends, one aunt cycled ( and went on a hunger march from Manchester to London in 1930s, if that counts) and one played golf well into her 80s.

They were less sedentary by all accounts, I think.

Sorry, I quoted your post because you mentioned your aunt going on a hunger March. How wonderful to have heard about that first hand, terrible as it all was of course.

My Mum did a lot of walking, she walked everywhere, and loved walking the dog miles. we never had a car.
She is now 79 and still walking everyday, never been overweight, always slim and good mental health.

My mother did the Mr Motivator and Rosemary Conley videos every morning before work. As soon as the step thing came out we knew we had to entertain ourselves for the next 30 mins/hour whatever it was.

@lljkk why did you ask the question and have the responses been as expected?

No formal exercise, but walked a lot, eg a few miles a day age 80 despite a leg very deformed with OA. Had a knee replacement age 80 and sailed through it despite no physio follow up and being confused. Until age 80 she had a little routine she did when she got out of bed - touching her toes etc. This kept her extremely flexible - could hold her leg up straight by her ear for example.Unfortunately now at 85, osteoarthritis and dementia have rendered her immobile. 😢

My mum did yoga (or at least I remember reading a yoga book when I was 3 whilst she mostly lay in child's pose), badminton, some tennis I think. Pretty sure she did Jane Fonda videos as well.

Now she's 73, and she and my dad have done ballroom dancing for about 25 years, they do the cha cha, rumba, samba, waltz etc, they're great at it. She also walks for miles.

It suddenly stuck me yesterday that maybe my mum was unusual.
I'm foreign anyway so a lot of MN norms don't apply to me. My mother worked FT and was the main family earner for instance.
Although I have no athletic or sport talent, I do a lot of fitness activity anyway, and it struck me that maybe my parents' example (they were both into sport/fitness), maybe have primed my expectations & aspirations more than I know.

Anyway, I started at basics, was my mom different from what MNers seem to have experienced. Maybe answer is "a little" ? I do think that long walks to catch the bus or lots of gardening-housework-DIY should count towards fitness activity, and some jobs even.

People seem to like the thread so maybe others are reflecting how their mother's habits framed their own attitudes or how social expectations have changed, etc.

My M was born in the 30s. She had a brief spell of going to "keep fit" in the village hall with DF for a while and that's it.

I see.
I was just curious and the thread has really been interesting.

For myself, coming from a family that did nothing, I’m the only one that does regularly do exercise. Yoga 3 x a week, hiking, walking, swimming etc. I think me being determined not to become obese & have preventable health issues like DM, or become doddery like DF (long divorced) really has come from reflecting on my parents habits, so their habits have affected my own attitude for sure.

My mother was born in the30s and was a professional dancer. She did some sort of dance/movement based exercise all her life. Her ability to do really hard core work based on Pilates and Alexander Technique lasted into her mid-80s until dementia took over.

Both of my grandmothers played tennis and walked a lot. They both maintained their Edwardian lady training of a long afternoon walk every day. My father’s mother lived into her 90s. Walking contributed to that longevity, I’m sure.

Interesting thread.

My mum a mid 40s baby did keep-fit in the local hall. And she didn't drive so walked, more of a run, everywhere.
Now mid 70s and very fit for her age.

Her own mum was less active and quite over weight (maybe not compared to people these days)
Her dad was a walker who had an active job and was walked for pleasure too.

Me, I gained weight when I bought my first car aged 24, and it's been a constant battle since.

Keep Fit. It was in the fire station, they used to move the engines out beforehand.

My mum was born 1951 and was a top sportswoman representing the country in main sport, university blue in two others - did everything. Got married, had me (and siblings) and did absolutely nothing albeit all the housework and a full time job. But never organised team sport or conscious cardio exercise since she left university. Maintained a healthy weight, however. In her sixties started walking regularly.

She died this year. I’ve been reflecting on her life and how sad it was she pretty much gave up all sport and exercise when she was 22, when it had been such a massive part of her life up until that point.

My mother was born in the 40s. She did a lot of swimming when she was younger. But when she started a family there was no time or money for sports. She smoked a lot and ate unhealthy food, drank to much.
She developed a form of diabetes type 2 that was hard to treat and after a difficult time, she died 8 years ago of the consequences.

I was never encouraged todo sports, but seeing my mum suffer from diabetes made me determined to do things differently and to continue the battle for a healthy weight. So i do bootcamp twice a week and running 3 times a week.

None. She's been overweight since I was born.

Trying to break the mindset of absolutely zero priority for my health. I always make a point of drinking water/eating well/exercising so my children can see that it's important.

But I hate every second of it and it all feels very unnatural.

Also she also had horribly low self esteem which I've taken by the bucketload.

Again, I will reiterate to my own children that exercise is important.