Hate working out? Here’s who to blame
January 20, 2010
The pool at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel (and where I wish I was right now)
But I do remember a swim teacher drowning me one summer (OK, not literally, but it sure felt like it). He was playing the role of stranded swimmer and when he refused to grab the lifesaver, I dove in (this is where I cost myself passing the swim test; I forgot that in this scenario it’s smarter to convince him to grab the lifesaver and reel him him in). When I reached him in the pool, he put on an act worthy of an Oscar, thrashing and dunking me into the water so many times I swallowed a few gallons of water. (My lungs feel like they’re filling with water just writing about this.) I’m pretty sure his “teaching method” would get him sued nowadays.
The silver lining? (Haven’t you heard? Positivity is the new black.) I may not have earned that Green swim badge that time around, but I still managed to become a semi-decent swimmer.
Oh, and the U of A study author mentioned above — he’s advocating PE that involves minimal adult organization and activities of a less competitive nature. Hopefully it works at not dooming people to a lifetime of inactivity.
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Miriam | January 20, 2010 at 11:45 AM
I remember hating PE so much that I’d do anything to get out of it, even resorting to getting doctor’s notes so as to sit out PE for weeks at a time.
I totally agree with the U of A author’s suggestions that activities should be less competitive in nature. I think that would have made a world of difference for me.
I only got involved in working out in my 20s when I “discovered” that fitness didn’t have to be about competing with others and that I could feel good both physically and mentally by just challenging and pushing myself in the gym. I’ve attempted other forms of activity since then (running, swimming, triathlon) and found the eventually the competitive nature of these pursuits just turned me off. So now I focus on getting a great workout at the gym and I feel so much better about myself.