Patience is a virtue

bbb84

I feel horrible about my actions today. My brother who is 17 wants to start working out , so I took him to the gym with me today. I was so excited to finally have someone to workout with and I would have the added bonus of bonding with my brother. My excitement lasted all of about 10 min , just long enough to warm up with a little cardio. We went on to stretch and I noticed he could not seem to get his foot to his hand or even balance on one foot to stretch his quad. We then moved on to do a few air squats and lunges. He goes on to tell me that he has never done either. NEVER?? What the heck do they do in PE? I do my best to show him proper form and mid lunge he loses his balance and falls, right there in the middle of the gym. I'm ashamed because I was embarrassed , but not just for him... For myself as well. I try to be patient , and explain these basic moves as best as I can , but I found myself very frustrated as he just wasn't getting it. I can't afford to get him a personal trainer, but I want to support him. What would you do, how to teach uncoordinated to become balanced ??

albayin

Funny I just heard this last night when watching one episode of "Quincy M.E."...LOL

Shambree813

As it was his first time, I give him props for even making the effort. Flexibility and strength take time and effort to develop. My suggestion would be to google your moves online... there are plenty of sites that will not only show you form step by step, but also have short videos showing the moves and adaptations until flexibilty and strength grow. he could practice in privacy and at his own pace. Walking into the gym for the first time is tough enough alone, let alone falling. I feel bad for the kid. As for real PE in schools...doesnt exist any more.

NicolePatriot

At least he's trying! We all have those "slip ups". Maybe have him practice that kind of stuff at home....eventually he'll get better. Just don't let him know you were embarrassed, that'd hurt his feelings too much I think and might discourage him. But props for taking him

xoxo

bbb84

Thank you for the suggestion ... I set him up with a website and some "homework" to do. As much as I dislike machines , I may need to start him off there where stability isn't needed as much and build up some basic muscle and maybe some confidence too. I just never considered that he might struggle. I've played sports all my life and I'm one of those people you can generally show once , critique it and I'd get it. I always thought he just didn't like to sweat and get dirty when he didn't want to play, it never occured to me that maybe he just couldn't . I mean we all fall, I trip going around the bases sometimes (sniper gets me lol), I just hope it was a wake up call more than a hindrance.

Shambree813

^^^^^^^^ great idea too

TheRealParisLove

Get him in front of the mirrors! I am kinestheticly challenged, but if I can see what my form looks like while executing the exercise, I will learn how to do the exercise with proper form and how to avoid bad form.

Maybe he just needs to see what he is doing, so he can make the corrections as necessary.