Gym teacher makes 9th Graders do Insanity Workout

I don't think they meant literally taking a nap, I think it was more of a comment about the P.E. teacher not teaching but letting Shawn T. do the teaching.

THIS. IS. CRAZY!!! Kids muscles aren't developed enough to do intense workouts like this. I hear this can cause serious permanent damage. My teen sister is my best workout partner. We do Zumba, SHORT sessions of Insanity, and Rockin' Body but this is one or two times/wk, not every day and we switch up the workouts. I would never make her do a full Insanity session as I can't do it myself, yet. Being required to do this without the parent's consent is WRONG. When I was in high school, we did Sweatin To The Oldies. I think that, or Tae Bo, maybe a good option, but Insanity is WAY TOO MUCH. Also, what is the gym teacher doing while the kids are watching a video. How lazy is that?!

Are you kidding me? This is the perfect time to get them started on programs such as this, when their muscles are developing. Why? Because exercising causes blood to be pumped to that part of the body which means more nutrients and oxygen to build stronger better bodies. You yourself said your sister is DOING Insanity. And notice the OP did not say the teacher had them doing it EVERY DAY. Also, just because YOU can't do the full DVD that doesn't mean your sister isn't capable of it. Never judge your capabilities to that of others.

Besides, the PARENTS DO GIVE CONCENT. They do it when for one they have to sign wavers (permission slips) at the begining of the year, and two when the child is sent home with the next year's schedule of classes and you have to approve of it before you turn it in. What part of physical education do you think wouldn't be physical? What? You think they would stand around twiddling their thumbs the whole class period?

Finally, Insanity is a DVD program that you go at YOUR pace. Same as Zumba, same as Sweating to the Oldies. You go at YOUR pace. So it doesn't matter if the teacher put the DVD in, if the kids only put forth a 25% effort they won't hardly be getting any of the intensity anway.

I did some research and found that there are new studies showing that strength training can be beneficial and not harmful to children. Again, this is new evidence. People used to think that it could be harmful. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. and YES, they can go at their own pace, but if you're amongst peers, you may push yourself harder, maybe too hard... and oftentimes, in my own experience, gym teachers push you even harder.

Exercise is good for kids. Pushing yourself too hard is bad for everybody, including kids. The only problem I would have is if the gym teacher popped in the DVD and took a nap when the kids exercised.

http://www.childrenscolorado.org/wellness/info/teens/20486.aspx

Who said he/she took a nap? That is jumping to a huge conclusion.

And it wasn't said whether this was a daily plan or once a week in P.E. this is what they're doing.
If I was a P.E. teacher and doing this once or twice a week to add variety, I would be watching closely and offereing help or support, whatever

I think it's a great idea and being younger, they should be able to handle the workout BETTER than adults even. Look at the energy kids have! Maybe fewer kids would be on pills for being hyper if they had other means of dispersing that excess energy

Just found out that my friend's daughter who is 14 years old had to do an Insanity workout at school this past Friday. Apparently the gym teacher made all the students do this very demanding workout. This is crazy especially since this is a workout program for people 18 years or older. The teacher didn't even ask the parents permission to teach this workout program!!

As you can imagine the kids were struggling after 2 minutes of doing Insanity. Also the teacher plans to do more programs.

Don't get me wrong kids needs physical activity but extreme programs are not appropriate for kids.

My friend is going to meet with the principal of the school to discuss this issue.

Are there any parents out there who kids are doing Insanity or P90X in school?

Kids can do extreme exercise just as well as adults, and nobody says the can't stop and take a breath if they need it. Saying that kids can only do little exercise that is light is like saying that kids can only eat kid friendly food, like saying they can only eat fish fingers and not actual fish like salmon fillet.

Many studies has shown that adult that were fit and healthy as children are more likely to be fit and healthier and live longer than those that just were average and did little exercise.

I know parents who have had their kids do Insanity in gym class and the kids LOVE it. Do parents or any other person who says it's too intense, lazy teaching or any other negative comment bother to ask the kids if they enjoy it? It's not like these kids have to do the workout at Shawn T's level, they can do it at their own. Some kids, of course, will hate it because not everyone enjoys athletics but overall it's a fun workout. It is also change from just playing sports and may engage kids who do not like team sports to do something on their own intensity without having to compete. Kudos to teachers who are finding innovative ways to engage their students!

I know parents who have had their kids do Insanity in gym class and the kids LOVE it. Do parents or any other person who says it's too intense, lazy teaching or any other negative comment bother to ask the kidsif they enjoy it? It's not like these kids have to do the workout at Shawn T's level, they can do it at their own. Some kids, of course, will hate it because not everyone enjoys athletics but overall it's a fun workout. It is also change from just playing sports and may engage kids who do not like team sports to do something on their own intensity without having to compete. Kudos to teachers who are finding innovative ways to engage their students!

my kid enjoys oreos and chocolate milk. forever.

kids+enjoy=/= a good criteria for choosing things to guide them in my opinion.

we are not talking about whether or not the kids will like it or whine about it, or are we? I though we were talking about what was good for the kids? at least that's how I read OP first concerns.

For all the people that keep throwing out the - anyone starting a workout program should be cleared by a physician first - as a reason the kids should not be doing Insanity, every school district we have ever been in required a physical yearly before school started, by a physician. Doesn't that cover this requirement? The doctors already note which children have asthma and other issues that can prevent them from fully engaging in certain activities.

/Snip!

My old high school doesn't have that stuff any more, you have 3 options: HOPE (which is basically health class), ROTC, or weight lifting (beginners, intermediate, advance and you have to go up in that order). And you need 2 credits to graduate and in 9th grade you have to take HOPE (required). No more team sports (No child left behind act blew that), no general fitness (again NCLBA). Guess what they teach in weight lifting, HEAVY LIFTING. If heavy lifting is appropriate then tell me why Insanity or P90X (which is all BW) would be so bad as people are saying.

I went to middle and high school in the 1980s. We were taught strength training (yes, lifting heavy weights) starting in 7th grade (age 12-13) and continued to work on that throughout our high school PE classes. We also worked on sprinting, running distances, chin ups/flexed arm hang, sit ups, shuttle drills for time, etc. All this stuff was usual and expected.

In addition to working on fitness benchmarks and strength building, we also did stuff like floor hockey, volleyball, softball, basketball, soccer, track & field--that would be divided up into teaching us different sorts of events--we even did square dancing (someone else mentioned this; perhaps they are from Oregon too). Boys learned wrestling, while us girls did Jazzercise! Yeah, Jazzercise. A female PE teacher would show up in her leo and tights and play cassette tapes and lead us through what I am assuming were copyrighted Jazzercise routines. My mom did Jazzercise back then, and the routines to the songs were the same as the ones we learned, so I'm guessing they were copyrighted versions. A lot of us girls who were more athletic saw Jazzercise as a huge joke and kind of ridiculous, but we giggled our way through it, enjoyed some of the music, and ultimately we had fun. Doing something like INSANITY would have been similar for us back then--"fashionable" in terms of exercise fads, but different from our typical PE class, and a bit more challenging than Jazzercise!

Not sure why everyone is assuming the PE teacher popped in a DVD and "took a nap". Perhaps he/she spent some time making sure everyone understood how to correctly perform the movements, stretching with the class, and then did the workout along with them? Maybe the teacher led the workout? Maybe it isn't actual Beach Body INSANITY but this teacher's own version of the workout. Nobody really knows, but those are all possibilities as well as the fact that maybe he or she just popped in a video and ignored the class (which I highly doubt).

My 13 yr old son is enrolled in a learning academy where only gymnastics and karate are practiced as an elective. He does an hour of Kajukenbo after school everyday. Plus does Insanity with me when he decides to wake up early before school. I see nothing wrong with having the kiddos do Insanity at school.

What part of the program do you disagree with?

^^I'm curious too. My 10 year old runs 5K obstacle course mud runs with me 3-5 times a years. Those kind of workout are his bread and butter. Maybe it will be hard in the beginning but imagine the satisfaction they will feel once the master it! Challenge kids...they're up to it. I do agree there should be parental ok first though.

I would have loved the option of doing some kind of workout instead of the team sports. The team sports have their place, too, as long as the gym teacher is teaching actual teamwork. My favorite part of gym class was the warm up time. Except for people with particular medical conditions, fitness exercising is accessible to pretty much everyone, and people should be more focused on what they are doing and not what the others are doing, so it doesn't matter how much better or worse people are than each other.

I don't have a problem with the teacher using the DVD. This may actually be safer as the teacher would have more of an opportunity to supervise form and safety.