9 ms·

Sorry for being slightly off-topic, but I really hope that PE lessons could focus more teaching the students how to enjoy exercising. It would have tremendously

Sorry for being slightly off-topic, but I really hope that PE lessons could focus more teaching the students how to enjoy exercising. It would have tremendously positive influence on the physical and mental health of the society as a whole. Not so long ago I came across a twitter thread in which people shared very negative experiences with PE lessons in schools. My own experience was not as bad as some of theirs, but frustrating enough to make me hate the very idea of exercising. My body shape was average, but somehow I was very clumsy. Among boys, I was one of the the slowest runners, only faster than the few kids who are quite overweight. I was also extremely bad at sports. Could not dribble for more than a few steps, could barely hit a badminton bird reliably, etc. My clumsiness itself was not something I felt bad about. It was the fact that my incompetence would be demonstrated in front of my classmates in a PE lesson that made me hate PE. In retrospect, they might not have noticed me anyway, and even if they did notice my failures, they are not going to remember. But this is not something a boy, eleven-year-old, driven by pride and a desire to show-off, could understand. What I learned from my PE lessons was simple: exercising sucks. Sport sucks. You better not do it if you've got the choice. I have seen enough evidence to convince me of the benefits of exercising. I wish I could enjoy exercising more. But I just can't. I wonder how things could be different, if I somehow had the chance to enjoy my PE lessons more as a child.

kaybe 7y ago
I have to say, in hindsight I am pretty annoyed with the general teaching methods. Rules and general movements were explained and shown to you once, and then you were left to your own devices only to be judged later on what you learned. (Learning by osmosis at that point, really.) Several times it took one small comment from someone else years later and I was able to do the thing considerably better. (Which muscles to relax, for example, or wrong direction of a movement.) That should have been a teacher's job.
hazeii 7y ago
Very interesting point; as a kid I hated PE but after some growing up I found myself naturally enjoying exercise. Maybe it's whether it's enforced or by personal choice?
andai 7y ago
I hated PE except but I love riding my bike. It doesn't feel like exercise, it feels like magic.
- hermitdev 7y ago
  Personal experience, I mostly hated PE as well, but I ran track as an endurance runner (ran 400m, 800m, 1600m, 3200m & 4x400m) aand later competed amaturely in cycling. When I was running, I was putting in 8-10 miles a day. Cycling was around 1.5 hours for a weekday, 3-4 hours per day on a weekend. I wouldn't say I was depressed at all in those times, but I was certainly stressed quite a bit and I did feel that the exercise was a cathartic escape from the stress and worrying. I'd kind of zone out at 25 mph, 30 miles from home on the bike and the mind would just clear. I also loved the competition. I never won a race, but I placed second with a near win in a bike race. Racing on a bike is an experience of its own right. When you're in the peloton, it can be nearly deathly quiet. You can have a quiet conversation with the person next to you. All you hear is the tire noise on the road and the turn of chains over the gears. Zero wind noise. It's weird and magical. Something you don't expect or get to experience as an amateur training alone.
jdietrich 7y ago
An issue that occurred to me as obvious at the time: all my secondary school classes were streamed by ability, except PE. I hated PE, because it invariably meant getting tackled to the ground or attacked with hockey sticks by boys twice my size. Nobody is in physical danger if they're bad at arithmetic, but I saw several boys get carted off the games field by ambulance after getting knocked out by a high tackle or a bouncer. One particularly kind-hearted PE teacher had the (rather obvious) idea of sending the wheezies, fatties and wimps to the sports hall to play badminton and table tennis, while the rest of the class went off to the games field to play rugby. It was a revelation. I wasn't cold, I wasn't wet, nobody was trying to knock my teeth out, everyone else was equally bad - I was loath to admit it, but it was almost fun.
- colordrops 7y ago
  Wait, your school required you to play contact sports? Even in the late 80s when I went to school, contact sports were varsity and you had to try out to even get a chance to play.
  - paulhart 7y ago
    Given the mentions of rugby and "a bouncer" (i.e. Cricket), it sounds like GP had a British (or adjacent) education, and I can also attest that these sports were initially mandatory at my school (equivalent of grades 6-8).
  - 0db532a0 7y ago
    Growing up in England, I played rugby and cricket from primary (elementary) school onwards.
    - fyfy18 7y ago
      Rugby was the worse. The season is during the cold months of the year, so you were basically guaranteed to end up cold, wet and muddy. I would have preferred to play hockey, but at my school that was for girls only. This was at secondary school (11 - 16). At my primary school (until age 11) we didn't have showers so the sports were more tame.
golemiprague 7y ago
If it helps you in any way, I was very good at sport and liked PE but still, as an adult I hate exercising because it feels like a chore and even when I am doing it constantly I hate every minute of it.
johnchristopher 7y ago
I don't know how it was in your country but where I live I think PE is supposed to be about more than exercise. It should develop proprioception, hand-eye coordination, multiple moving bodies awareness, etc. What kind of PE lessons do you think would have been suitable for your 11 year old self ?
- johnchristopher 7y ago
  Replying to myself: I could see some outdoor scouting activities be an alternate way to do that.
LouisSayers 7y ago
I think part of the problem here is people comparing themselves to others. Exercise is about self improvement, and at the start it does suck. It requires hard work and persistence along with pushing yourself outside your comfort zone. Once you start improving and even getting good at something however it becomes enjoyable and you start to look forward to it. If you don’t know how to get started I’d suggest picking something where if you had to, you could imagine yourself enjoying it, and getting a coach. For me personally, I’ve found boxing to be a lot of fun, it burns the calories and teaches you useful skills. With a good coach they should be able to help you progress at your own pace - all you have to do is show up.
- SamReidHughes 7y ago
  I used to think exercise sucks at the start. But if you start with moving weight, instead of aerobic activity, it doesn't suck -- at least not longer than a few seconds at a time. You are then able to sidle into running a lot more easily.
musicale 7y ago
I've found exercise to be more tolerable if it's done regularly and early in the day. Walking around outside is a pretty non-demanding and enjoyable form of exercise. It's particularly pleasant in a park, waterfront, or natural environment. PE lessons as such never inspired me much, except for swimming lessons which seemed fun and useful. But in primary school we had this great thing called "recess" where we could just go outside and do whatever we wanted (or nothing at all) with whatever equipment they had. Staff were available for assistance if needed but didn't direct activities. Games and sports, if any, were generally self-organized. I'm pretty sure that is a good general model for a school that would actually be fun and educational. Or at least a better balance of something like 10% directed activities vs. 90% undirected/self-directed. Recess periods might be a good idea for day jobs as well. Regarding sports, I think they're quite a bit easier as an adult when you have better coordination!
kd5bjo 7y ago
One issue I’ve noticed from growing up is that “exercise” and “healthy” were always adjectives of last resort — if something was described that way, I knew I was in for a thoroughly unpleasant experience.
amanaplanacanal 7y ago
Some comments: Poor motor skills seems to be associated with people on the autistic spectrum. I certainly fit into this mold, and I bet a lot of people here do. My memories of PE are about team sports. Throw somebody with poor motor skills into team sports and they are going to have a bad time all around. People with poor motor skills are not going to enjoy competitive sports. Competition might motivate some people, but if you always lose that's a pretty big demotivator. Individual activities like running or weightlifting are probably a better match for a lot of kids. Something where your only goal is to be better than you started.

kaybe 7y ago

I have to say, in hindsight I am pretty annoyed with the general teaching methods. Rules and general movements were explained and shown to you once, and then you were left to your own devices only to be judged later on what you learned. (Learning by osmosis at that point, really.) Several times it took one small comment from someone else years later and I was able to do the thing considerably better. (Which muscles to relax, for example, or wrong direction of a movement.) That should have been a teacher's job.

hazeii 7y ago

Very interesting point; as a kid I hated PE but after some growing up I found myself naturally enjoying exercise. Maybe it's whether it's enforced or by personal choice?

andai 7y ago

I hated PE except but I love riding my bike. It doesn't feel like exercise, it feels like magic.

hermitdev 7y ago
Personal experience, I mostly hated PE as well, but I ran track as an endurance runner (ran 400m, 800m, 1600m, 3200m & 4x400m) aand later competed amaturely in cycling. When I was running, I was putting in 8-10 miles a day. Cycling was around 1.5 hours for a weekday, 3-4 hours per day on a weekend. I wouldn't say I was depressed at all in those times, but I was certainly stressed quite a bit and I did feel that the exercise was a cathartic escape from the stress and worrying. I'd kind of zone out at 25 mph, 30 miles from home on the bike and the mind would just clear. I also loved the competition. I never won a race, but I placed second with a near win in a bike race. Racing on a bike is an experience of its own right. When you're in the peloton, it can be nearly deathly quiet. You can have a quiet conversation with the person next to you. All you hear is the tire noise on the road and the turn of chains over the gears. Zero wind noise. It's weird and magical. Something you don't expect or get to experience as an amateur training alone.

jdietrich 7y ago

An issue that occurred to me as obvious at the time: all my secondary school classes were streamed by ability, except PE. I hated PE, because it invariably meant getting tackled to the ground or attacked with hockey sticks by boys twice my size. Nobody is in physical danger if they're bad at arithmetic, but I saw several boys get carted off the games field by ambulance after getting knocked out by a high tackle or a bouncer. One particularly kind-hearted PE teacher had the (rather obvious) idea of sending the wheezies, fatties and wimps to the sports hall to play badminton and table tennis, while the rest of the class went off to the games field to play rugby. It was a revelation. I wasn't cold, I wasn't wet, nobody was trying to knock my teeth out, everyone else was equally bad - I was loath to admit it, but it was almost fun.

colordrops 7y ago
Wait, your school required you to play contact sports? Even in the late 80s when I went to school, contact sports were varsity and you had to try out to even get a chance to play.
- paulhart 7y ago
  Given the mentions of rugby and "a bouncer" (i.e. Cricket), it sounds like GP had a British (or adjacent) education, and I can also attest that these sports were initially mandatory at my school (equivalent of grades 6-8).
- 0db532a0 7y ago
  Growing up in England, I played rugby and cricket from primary (elementary) school onwards.
  - fyfy18 7y ago
    Rugby was the worse. The season is during the cold months of the year, so you were basically guaranteed to end up cold, wet and muddy. I would have preferred to play hockey, but at my school that was for girls only. This was at secondary school (11 - 16). At my primary school (until age 11) we didn't have showers so the sports were more tame.

golemiprague 7y ago

If it helps you in any way, I was very good at sport and liked PE but still, as an adult I hate exercising because it feels like a chore and even when I am doing it constantly I hate every minute of it.

johnchristopher 7y ago

I don't know how it was in your country but where I live I think PE is supposed to be about more than exercise. It should develop proprioception, hand-eye coordination, multiple moving bodies awareness, etc. What kind of PE lessons do you think would have been suitable for your 11 year old self ?

johnchristopher 7y ago
Replying to myself: I could see some outdoor scouting activities be an alternate way to do that.

LouisSayers 7y ago

I think part of the problem here is people comparing themselves to others. Exercise is about self improvement, and at the start it does suck. It requires hard work and persistence along with pushing yourself outside your comfort zone. Once you start improving and even getting good at something however it becomes enjoyable and you start to look forward to it. If you don’t know how to get started I’d suggest picking something where if you had to, you could imagine yourself enjoying it, and getting a coach. For me personally, I’ve found boxing to be a lot of fun, it burns the calories and teaches you useful skills. With a good coach they should be able to help you progress at your own pace - all you have to do is show up.

SamReidHughes 7y ago
I used to think exercise sucks at the start. But if you start with moving weight, instead of aerobic activity, it doesn't suck -- at least not longer than a few seconds at a time. You are then able to sidle into running a lot more easily.

musicale 7y ago

I've found exercise to be more tolerable if it's done regularly and early in the day. Walking around outside is a pretty non-demanding and enjoyable form of exercise. It's particularly pleasant in a park, waterfront, or natural environment. PE lessons as such never inspired me much, except for swimming lessons which seemed fun and useful. But in primary school we had this great thing called "recess" where we could just go outside and do whatever we wanted (or nothing at all) with whatever equipment they had. Staff were available for assistance if needed but didn't direct activities. Games and sports, if any, were generally self-organized. I'm pretty sure that is a good general model for a school that would actually be fun and educational. Or at least a better balance of something like 10% directed activities vs. 90% undirected/self-directed. Recess periods might be a good idea for day jobs as well. Regarding sports, I think they're quite a bit easier as an adult when you have better coordination!

kd5bjo 7y ago

One issue I’ve noticed from growing up is that “exercise” and “healthy” were always adjectives of last resort — if something was described that way, I knew I was in for a thoroughly unpleasant experience.

amanaplanacanal 7y ago

Some comments: Poor motor skills seems to be associated with people on the autistic spectrum. I certainly fit into this mold, and I bet a lot of people here do. My memories of PE are about team sports. Throw somebody with poor motor skills into team sports and they are going to have a bad time all around. People with poor motor skills are not going to enjoy competitive sports. Competition might motivate some people, but if you always lose that's a pretty big demotivator. Individual activities like running or weightlifting are probably a better match for a lot of kids. Something where your only goal is to be better than you started.