wmwcjr wrote:As a newcomer I feel compelled to enter this forum because its topic is of deep personal concern to me. So that you will know my own point of view, I am a middle-aged man who has been working on a bodybuilding program at a health club for about a year and a half. The experience has been very beneficial, and I've definitely made a long-term commitment to attaining and maintaining a level of physical fitness.
I'm not going to engage in any name-calling, but I will be blunt when I have to. I probably will manage to offend both sides. I don't like the petition's wording "Ban PE from the required classes to graduate." This issue is not trivial to me, because it concerns the unjustified mistreatment of kids. I would have worded the petition as follows: "PE should be an elective, not mandatory." I favor traditional PE for athletic kids and all the other kids who want to take PE with them. I have no problem with this at all. But I am ADAMANTLY OPPOSED to forcing nonathletically inclined boys, especially those who are scrawny or fat, to take PE. The physical fitness needs of these boys are ignored, because the REAL purpose of PE is to promote sports, not physical fitness. I'll have a lot more to say about this later.
Good evening.
I'm also middle aged, 57 years old.
Well, I'm for banning mandatory PE from our schools, because young boys who are not athletically inclined are often humiliated in PE classes.
I'm also not athletically inclined. To promote physical fitness, such programs need to be tailored for the individual according to his abilities.
I'm one of the fat ones, which is obvious from my photo in my avatar. I'm 5 feet 6 inches and I now weigh about 400 pounds.
OK, back in 1978 when I was gong to NMSU, New Mexico State University, I was majoring in Astronomy and Physics, but because I did not learn jack-shit from high school, I had to take Algebra Review and Geometry Review which were high school level courses in math. I passed both of them, making a B, and in 1978 I was taking three more math courses in trigonometry, and one was a pre-calculus course. I needed to concentrate more on math, so I didn't want to take a bunch of other courses that would require more homework, because I needed to concentrate on improving my math skills. I made a B in all three math courses.
That semester, I did take two PE courses, a couple of easy-ass courses that would not require that I be good at running, or playing games, but something that I could do at my own pace.
So, I took Golf, and weight training. Well, I sucked at Golf! Out of 30 other students, I was the only left-handed Golfer, and it was hard for me to search through the bin to find all the left-handed clubs that I needed. I also had a hard time swinging the clubs because of my rather stout body, so I only mad a C in Golf. My Golf instructor called me Hefty Lefty because I was the fattest one in my class, and the only left-handed one.
The weight training turned out to be easier. In fact, I actually enjoyed pumping iron, and I didn't have to compete against anybody else, I was there to improve on my own abilities. It was more than just a PE course. We had to attend classes on Human Anatomy, so it was also like a science class as well, and the instructor was really cool.
Back then, I was the heaviest student in my class of 25 other students. At the time, I weighed about 270 pounds, and they took our measurements at the beginning of the semester. I had the largest waist, hip, and thighs measurements but another student had the largest chest and arm measurements.
My favorite exercise was the leg press. When I first started, I was leg pressing about 300 pounds which was more than i had weighed at the time. but after only 5 weeks, I got to where I could leg press 650 pounds, which was the entire stack of irons on the leg press machine. I know that I could have done more.
But when it came to bench pressing, lifting a barbell with my hands, I started out at 100 pounds, and it was not until toward the end of the semester that I was able to bench press 150 pounds.
Another student who weighed a lot less than I did, about 230 pounds, he was able to bench press more than his own weight at 250 pounds. His chest and arms were much bigger than mine, but I was the only one in my class who could leg press the entire stack of irons at 650 pounds. The other student could only do about 400 pounds.
Well, I'm what you would call an Endomorph. An Ectomorph is tall and slender, a Mesomorph has the typical athletic build, broad in the chest, and narrow in the hips, while we Endomorphs tend to be small in the chest and broader in the hips, and our arms and legs are shorter in proportion to our height.
I'm 66 inches tall, and with most guys my height, the torso length from shoulder to crotch is usually about 23 inches and the crotch height or leg length is about 32 inches, so normally the legs are longer then the torso length.
But with us Endomorphs, the torso length is longer and the legs are shorter so the the torso length and leg length are approximately equal.
But when I was measured, my torso length from shoulder to crotch is 30 inches, and my legs are only 26 inches long, so my legs are shorter than my torso length, having an even bigger body with even shorter limbs, so I'm what I like to call, Hyper-endomorphic. When I sit down next to somebody who is taller then I am, I usually sit up higher because of my longer torso and when I sit down next to somebody shorter than I am, that person's knees sticks out further than mine because that other person has longer legs.
So, I have seen people shorter than I am who's legs are longer than mine, and people taller then I am with a torso length shorter than mine.
Also, men tend to have more upper-body strength, while women tend to have more lower-body strength.
But we fat little Hyper-endomorphic, somewhat pear-shaped males, we have more in common with women than we do with other men, being smaller in the chest and broader in the hips, we tend to have more lower-body strength.
To give you and idea what I mean. I only measure about 56 inches around my chest, 64 inches around my waist, and 70 inches around my hips with 36 inch thighs.
Anyway, that semester, after pumping iron, I did manage to lose about an inch from my waist while adding 3 inches to my chest, and 2 inches to my upper arms. But I added 4 inches to my hips and 3 inches to my thighs. I didn't lose any weight. In fact, I gained weight, going up from 270 pound to 285 pounds.
But then, we Endomorphs are very good at gaining weight. That is what we do best, whether it be gaining fat from the foods we eat, or gaining muscle from pumping iron, we can do both, and we do it very well, thank you!
So, the weight I gained was probably muscle from pumping iron because my strength, especially in my legs increased, but I didn't lose any fat.
My PE instructor took me aside for a private talk, and he actually said the he was amazed at the progress I made when it came to increasing my strength, and he said that I could build up a fantastic body, but if only I would come out from under all the
"baby fat" as he put it.
But I was honest with him, and I told him that I was not interested in getting "six-pack abs" but that I only wanted to build up my muscles and strength while keeping the fat, because I like having the softer more rounded out appearance, and the fat make me feel more comfortable.
He then asked me if I was trying to go Sumo or something, and I said, "Hey! Now that sounds like a really cool idea!" and he just shook his head and said "I give up!"
and walked away!
Well, anyway, I did make a B in that PE course. He was the first and only PE instructor that I thought was cool. And it was very scientific, because we were issued text books on human biology and anatomy, and we had to study those text books.
My PE instructor was actually envious of me, because while he was able to build up the muscles in his chest and arms, he was never able to build up his leg muscles. He was broad in the chest with big biceps, but he had skinny legs. His legs were strong, he was able to increase the strength of his leg muscles, but not the size. I guess it has something to do with genetics.
He also mentioned to me, privately, that the students that were more Endomorphic were actually his favorite, even more so than the Mesomorphic one's that were actually more athletic and more muscular.
To him, we Endomorphs are amazing. We are naturally soft and weak to begin with, but after weight training we Endomorphs can become amazingly strong. We are lousy runners and lousy jumpers, because we are heavy and slow moving, but with the right amount of weight training we can become amazingly strong.
The largest Mesomorph I have ever seen, broad in the chest, and narrow in the hips, weighed just over 400 pounds.
Sumo wrestlers, on the other hand, are soft round Endomorphs, but they can pack a lot of muscle under the fat, and the largest Sumo Wrestler I have ever seen was about 6 feet 2 inches and weighed over 700 pounds. He was obvious not immobile as most obese people who weigh that much tend to be. We Endomorphs can get really huge, some of us setting world's records for weight.
Mesomorphs are just naturally muscular. We Endomorphs have to work at it, but then when it comes to strength, we can eventually out-do the Mesomorphs while still looking soft and round on the outside.
I like being an Endomorph, because our outward appearance can be very deceptive. You see somebody who looks like a soft and weak cream-puff on the outside, but he could be packing a lot of muscle under the fat. My upper body is weak, but with either one of my short fat little legs, I could probably kick a door off of it's hinges and send it flying across the room.
Yeah, as you had said . . . . .
. . . "I am ADAMANTLY OPPOSED to forcing non athletically inclined boys, especially those who are scrawny or fat, to take PE. The physical fitness needs of these boys are ignored, because the REAL purpose of PE is to promote sports, not physical fitness."
On this I agree.
PE should never be made mandatory. As I has said, the first, and only PE course that I actually enjoyed was when I was in collage taking a course in weight training. I was able to work at my own pace, and I did not have to compete against anybody else, only that I could work on improving myself, and if somebody was stronger, to me that was no big deal.
Well, it did kind of even out, because by the end of the semester, one student had the strongest arms and the strongest upper-body, while I had the strongest legs and the strongest lower-body.
Of course, I wasn't the only Endomorph in my class, but I was the only one that I would classify as Hyper-endomorphic, meaning that my legs were shorter than my torso length. At least, that is my own term for it.
Anyway, there is a difference between PE in Collage and PE in high school or elementary school. In Collage PE, you do have a choice to be in something competitive or not, and you can choose something that you can do at your own pace.
Because I'm a slow and heavy Endomorph, I will never be a fast runner, or a high jumper. In fact, I actually don't walk, I waddle, like an obese little penguin because of my larger heavy body and short fat legs.
When it comes to swimming, I'm not built for speed, but I do have endurance and I can swim for a long distance, but, just at a slower pace. But then, we fat little Endomorphs can float, and we can stand swimming in colder temperatures.
If they are going to insist on having PE in high school, then they should have some PE classes designed for the thin scrawny students and the fat students in mind, it should be an individual thing, and not mandatory.
I say, either do it right, or not at all!
I'm fat and sassy! I love to sing & dance & stomp my feet & really rock your world!
