I need your help so I don't have a cardiac arrest tomorrow

Advil. Guzzle it.



Not much to say. Somebody said once that the first day is always the hardest. The Navy SEALs says "The only easy day was yesterday."

I tend to agree with the SEALs.

I guess I'll say to make sure that you stretch tonight, tomorrow morning, just before you start playing (Ultimate Frisbee is a lot of fun -- so just have fun with it), and after. It sounds a little silly, but if you're thorougly stretched, you probably won't feel much in the way of discomfort, especially not when you're just running about a mile.

When you run, make sure to breathe. Don't huff, because it'll expend more energy. If you jog a mile (I assume you are), breathe in through your nose, and slowly, calmly through your mouth (like whistling without noise). If you can get used to controlling your breathing, you'll find that you can run much, much further without nearly as much effort. But it will be hard to start, and you might sweat hard until your body is used to it.

Don't hate the Nazi teacher. Once you can do the mile without much effort, tell her how you felt. You'll undoubtedly be in better shape then, and you'll probably feel a little silly from posting this.

Later. [wink]

Don't do it. It's just P.E. What are they going to do? Stop you? Not likely.

Matt, your left leg doesn't look to good. Infact, it looks as though your suffering from Stage-1 Inversed-Epileptic Gamedevia.

Have your mother write you a letter forbidding you to run on it until a doctor can have a look at it.

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Original post by Boku San [...]breathe in through your nose, and slowly, calmly through your mouth[...]

Be careful trying to breath slowly with lots of physical activity if you're not used to it. You can get seriously light headed from lack of oxygen doing such a thing and falling on a track wouldn't be fun.

Personally, I can't breath slowly when running because I just don't get enough oxygen that way. I even tried running daily for several months to improve but nothing changed at all besides my leg strength (which only changed slightly because that's already where all my little bit of muscle is).

First, don't kill yourself. It's only a grade. That said, establish a goal for yourself. If it hurts you too much to run the mile, run as much of it as you can and then jog the rest or walk the rest - BUT DON'T STOP UNTIL YOU FINISH. Make a note to yourself where you stopped running and started jogging. The next day try to run a bit farther than you did the day before. And so on day after day. If you can run the whole thing already, then try to run it a little faster every day. So too with the rest of the exercises. If your teacher harshes on you for slowing down or whatever, you tell her what your plan is and that she should hold you to account for improving your stamina. It seems to me that PE teachers should be looking for improvements in their students more than simply grading them on their skills on the bball court. At any rate, figure this out for yourself, what makes the best sense to you - and then do it.

As for muscle pain - stretch before you exert yourself, warm yourself up by jogging in place quickly to get the blood flowing, take deep breaths and breath through your nose. When you finish exerting yourself, run a cool down lap, keep the blood pumping. The pain is caused by a build up of lactic acid due that builds up as a part of anaerobic exercise. Cool down exercises help to dispel this acid. Gatorade (or similar) can help replenish the electrolytes that you sweat out.

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Original post by MattI've got the class again tomorrow. Any suggestions you may have for preparing my self (food, excersize, stretches?) for tomorrow's 100 minutes of torture? I'd hate to have a cardiac arrest or have my legs blow up or something out there...

It would get out of class though... I once threw my back out in gym class which got me out of almost everything at Field Day (tons of track running stuff).

Be cool and skip class. (totally serious here)

I skipped like 30/90 classes, never did anything and still got like 76. In most places you would actually have to put effort into failing gym.

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Have your mother write you a letter forbidding you to run on it until a doctor can have a look at it.

Or if your not a pansy, write it yourself and get someone else to sign it.

As much fun as it is to make fun of PE teachers, the majority of the time the situation can still be reduced to the student being a lazy bastard. :)

Running a mile every single day is overzealous if you've never ran before, but you should be exercising every day. Don't turn get into a "fight the power" mode. It's not slavework - physical activity is going to benefit you greatly.

Now, just have a talk with your teacher one-on-one (before class, after, whenever) and just let her know you have a bit of a problem keeping up, if that's the case. Back in highschool, one gym teacher started out running along behind everyone on the track, and if they fell behind him they'd lose big points. A bunch of people calmly approached him and let him know that they needed some more time to build up to his expected endurance level, and he accomodated.

Your teacher's not the devil - if you're really not just belly-aching about having to move around every day, and you're truthfully having muscle aches, let her know and ask her to cut you some slack.

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Original post by I_Smell_Tuna Don't do it. It's just P.E. What are they going to do? Stop you? Not likely.

I have a better idea, he should do it because it is good for him.

Matt, don't be a pussy.

Stick with it!

You're going to feel like absolute shit for the first couple of days, but it will get and better and you'll get healthier for it. Stick with it a while and you'll get addicted to it, and then soon enough you'll be the most buffed geek in school.

I'm assuming that you're rather young (Younger than 40 at least). If that's the case, then a little tough exercise isn't going kill you.

Knock back some extra stength Advil and chill any of the bad aches and you'll be fine. Increasing your protien and calcium intake a little bit will help in the long run as well.

Edit: Of course my PE teacher for most of my school years was an ex-drill instuctor in the armed forces. He wasn't happy unless someone ended up puking before class ended.

Bring her a pie. Maybe she will soften up on the whole class and you will be able to leasurly play Ultimate Frisby your own way and everyone will be happy. Or maybe she will throw it in your face and tell you to start running.

I have heard really bad things around school about this new teacher though. I hope i don't have a class with her next semester.

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Original post by lethalhamster Bring her a pie. Maybe she will soften up on the whole class and you will be able to leasurly play Ultimate Frisby your own way and everyone will be happy. Or maybe she will throw it in your face and tell you to start running.

Nah! She'll have him eat the whole thing in five minutes and then have him running laps around the track double time until he's hurling fruit flavoured chunks.

In general, I say Suck it up. It'll be better for you than it will ever harm.
EXCEPT.
Since you do -not- have much excercise in your life, you run the risk of hurting yourself if you actually have to hit it that hard, daily without establishing a certain tone and endurance and body awareness. I know the army guys do it, but the army guys also get pneumonia at an alarming rate. You dont have to be an army guy.

Make tomorrow a light jog, just a little faster than walking will handle. Rest up good, and get it hard the next day. Alternating days will help.

And if that isnt good enough, then you are trading not getting hurt for a lower grade. Fair enough for me. Besides, you can always contest the grade later and take it before some of the administrators. In high school, its easy to argue your way to a higher grade. Especially in bullshit classes.

be VERY careful about stretching. A little is good, a lot is better? hell no.

You need some of that stiffness in your legs to absorb shock when your feet hit the ground. without it you actually do more damage to yourself (or so says the last report on it)

Some is good, don't hyper extend anything. Flex till you 'feel it' back off just a tad, hold it, then flex back to where you 'feel it' a few times.

Now that you have done major damage you are going to need recovery time. This involves lots of flexing and putting slight resistance on your limbs.

The human body needs ATLEAST 36 hours recovery time after straining itself like that. I learned this fun little detail AFTER my last gym class. Pushups every night aren't nearly as effective as if you do them every OTHER night.


Personally, I always loved how twisted my PE teacher was. He would go on about how excersie is so good and all that, then take the elevator up a single floor.
Most PE classes suck. They usually involve things that most of the students can't actually do yet, so while all the sports guys get something from it, those whos talents in sporting was in a very different direction from sprinting running all over the place get nothing. I had a hellish time in gym class because I do long range backpacking. I might not be the fastest person on the trails, but I can go at MY speed from sunrise to sunset, and be up to do it again the next day.

I got more exercise in Marching Band than anyone ever got in Gym class. And people would sneer at it, but it does take a lot out of the body. Thankfully It counted as gym class in high school

I can remember the horrors of junior high gym. The teachers would toss hockey sticks at you, and never tell us how to play.
Commence one hour of the kids on the hockey team screaming "WHAT THE F*CK ARE YOU DOING" at you.
Repeat next day. But with pullups.

Some of us did not learn sports. That should be made clear, because it does not seem to be common knowledge that not everyone knows how to throw a football.

To hell with sports, I'll exercise on my own terms.

The Ultimate Magical Formula - Seriously.

This is going to sound a bit weird, and it will suck the first few times you do it, but take ice cold baths. Showers are also acceptable if that's all you can manage (and a lot of people seem to find them easier to start out with). Go as cold as you can get it (although obviously not literally ice, at least not until you get a lot more used to the practice). Make sure you get every part of your body thoroughly wet - immersing your head early usually helps ease the shock. Stay as wet as possible for about 3-5 minutes, and then get out. If you start feeling excessive numbness, especially early on, get out just to be safe. Pain and discomfort, though, you will need to endure - believe me, it gets easier very quickly.

There is a secret to enduring this. First of all, psych up before hand; if you do any meditation or mental focus exercises, get into your most relaxed groove before you do this. Second, make sure to do it as quickly as possible after heavy exercise, and if possible one additional time per day even if you have not worked out. The cold is much easier to endure when you are hot and sweaty, and repeated exposure will get your body used to the discomfort very quickly (usually 4-5 runs), without losing any of the benefits. Sticking with it will help maintain your endurance. Third, and most important, control your breathing. If you're like most people, the first shot of cold water will make you want to gasp. Fight this. Slow, controlled, and deliberate breathing is essential. A common favorite is to breathe in slowly through the nose, then out forcefully (but still slowly) through pursed lips. The exhale will give you a chance to tighten your core muscles, which helps distract from the discomfort of the cold.

When you leave the water, don't heat yourself up - blankets, huddling in towels, sitting by a heater/fire are all forbidden. If you do this, the shock on your body will probably be too great, and you will likely get very sick. It is important that after this practice you allow your body to warm up slowly and naturally. Lightly towel off and dress similarly to how you were while exercising, and avoid vigorous activity for a few minutes.

Cold bathing, also referred to (by some) as tempering, is an excellent thing. The cold causes the blood vessels in your body to retreat deeper under the skin as a natural insulation. This leads to a change in where the bulk of your blood flows, and (among other benefits) will help purge toxins - notably lactic acid - from the muscles. It also puts your heart and lungs to good work, especially if you are carefully regulating your breathing. Your heart will naturally speed up to help keep your blood moving and warm, and this is a fairly decent supplement to a good cardio workout. (Just as a word of warning, if your pulse gets extremely high, you feel pain in your chest, or you start getting dizzy, light-headed, and/or seeing stars, get out of the cold and let yourself warm up slowly and naturally.)

As I said, the first couple of times will suck - but the benefits start showing up quickly, especially if you're not in the best of shape. As a bonus it will basically obliterate DOMS if done promptly after exercise. It also is simultaneously very energizing and very relaxing - and nothing beats the testosterone jolt of surviving such a miserable experience [wink]

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Original quote by Coach Boomer SIDEKICK!

Feel the burn & take the doughnuts out of your footlocker Private Pyle! ;)

Unless you've got a medical condition the chest pain you're experiencing probably comes from being unfit, been there, done that, still alive. In a couple of weeks it won't be so hard, heck you may even appreciate it. Learn to pace yourself - take it easy to start with & work up slowly to a faster pace (both on a per-session and overall basis), and the pain will be less of a problem.

She should really be giving you 10 minutes or so of stretching before anything else, I've always done it based on feeling - rather than just going through the motions, push yourself a little; a bit of stretch pain that goes away once you've relaxed and afterwards the muscles feel warm is a good indicator you've done enough I've found. Some joints are less susceptible to this (i.e. shoulders) so don't push it too far. This isn't to say that you should keep pushing until you hear a snap either :D

Even with proper stretching if you've been sedentary for a while the soreness will be there for a few days, the only thing I can say to that is take the pain, you'll find it's not that bad once you've been moving around for a few minutes. Eventually the soreness won't be a problem & you'll be on your way to that fantastic feeling called being fit.

The rest period is just as if not more important than the actual exercise, typically after an intense workout I give myself at least a day's recovery, preferably two. It's odd that you're having to exercise every day without adequate rest time.

PS - you're saying 100 minutes of torture includes 80 minutes of ultimate frisbee? That really doesn't sound like torture to me.