Do/did your parents and siblings like to exercise?

[katmom]

My mother played basketball in high school and I vaguely remember her doing some floor exercises when I was younger. My father kept a big vegetable garden every summer until having bypass surgery in the late 70's. After that he walked everyday, however, my mother would only occasionally walk with him despite stating she slept better on the days she walked. After my father passed away in 1992, I tried introducing various fitness routines to my mother. She would try for a while, then stop (I thought I had her with the Stronger Seniors DVD). She now suffers from high blood pressure, glaucoma, and spinal stenosis. My brother did some resistance training on his return from Iraq, however, since his retirement from the military, his fitness routines have stopped.

I took up fitness training at the age of 21 and have continued for 40 years despite the family heckling of my fitness endeavors. My longest break from fitness was the 3 weeks I was recovering from 2 ruptured discs (bed rest for 3 weeks, no surgery) at the the age of 28. As soon as the doctor gave approval, I started walking daily until I built up enough strength to return to body weight and isometric resistance training. Because of the ruptured discs, I embarked on weight training to increase my muscular strength. I took up step training to increase my cardio endurance. Perhaps because of my fitness training, I have kept the hereditary diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease at bay for now. With my diet (try to eat smart 85% of the time), I am also able to maintain my clothing size and weight. My physician has stated that she wishes the health of her other 61 year old patients were as "boring" as mine.

[sciencelady]

My parents, nope. Mom's had some physical therapy needs over the years which she will do with the therapist present, but will not do the exercises on her own. Dad was not into exercise. Stepdad was like mom - would do what he needed to do under supervision, but nothing on his own. Exercising is a foreign concept to them.

My brother does things on and off - currently off. As a younger man, he was into playing volleyball, but stopped after injuring his shoulder. Wife #2 for him was into athletics and he got himself into a gym fairly regularly and did some road biking. Now with wife #3, he's not doing anything defined as exercise, but is keeping active moving house for my parents and doing yard care.

I'm the freak of the family because I do exercise.

[ddj]

No one in my family exercised or played sports. My dad worked on a farm growing up but that wasn't by choice. He tried weight lifting as a young adult because he wanted to build muscle, but that didn't last long. My mom has never had any interest, and neither do my brothers. None of us played sports because we are all uncoordinated.

I was active as a child, jumping rope, riding my bike, and I was a cheerleader so I practiced cartwheels, flips and splits. I hated P.E. as a kid but loved it when it rained and our teacher brought in the exercise record. Everyone else groaned when they saw the record player but I loved it, probably because no coordination was necessary for calisthenics.

Since I have battled weight problems since puberty, I bought a Joanie Greggains record when I was about 21 and fell in love with exercise. I've been going strong ever since.

[kalliope999]

I took dance and rode horses and played outside when I was younger, but when I hit puberty I put on weight (20-30lbs), didn't feel good about myself, and stopped all of those things. (Dumb! That only made things worse!) I was a bookish introvert, too. It wasn't until briefly in college and then later again that I started exercising. I'm now one of the most active in the family.

My mom was never much of an exerciser when I was growing up (only before my sister's wedding, etc). But she's always loved to dance. She fell in love with Zumba a couple of years ago, and she's been going regularly since, and it has helped her feel energetic and lose weight. Like me she can gain weight easily, and we're a similar body shape. I think we both need a certain amount of cardio that's intense enough to make us really break a sweat and get our heart rate going, so I think there's something to the genetic aspect of how one responds to exercise. (We're both curvy and carry weight more evenly and in our legs & butt, whereas my sister and dad have long legs and carry weight in their middles.)

My sister was the trim cheerleader in high school, and also ran track, and never had to think about her weight. But she's very inactive now and carries considerably more weight than I do and is very out of shape.

My dad was extremely fit when young and in the Air Force, and even did demonstrations of the requirements and did judo competitions. He didn't formally exercise after that, except that for many years he did lots of physical work on our old house. His hip is bad now, so he can't walk for long, and although he stopped smoking maybe 15 years ago, his lungs aren't great and all of that limits him although he still does house projects. He does a little strengthening at the gym now, but only sporadically.

[kalliope999]

Double post!

[Vintage VFer]

Do/did your parents and siblings like to exercise?

No.

I did have an uncle who refereed college basketball into his mid 70's. He was quite a guy.

[Aunt Famous]

My mom weighs about 400 pounds and is almost immobile. I love her dearly and accept the situation for what it is, but it is hard to see. It is also hard to hear her talk about how "lucky" I am because I am "naturally thin," since I work very hard to stay fit. Sigh. Her health is one of the biggest motivating factors for me to stay active.

My dad is Paleo Man. He bought a small farm a few years ago, and chops wood, hikes, gardens, hunts, and moves constantly. His wife is a vidiot; she introduced me to the original Firms back in the day.

I have influenced both my brother and sister to exercise, which makes me feel good!

AF

Check out my blog at www.typeALC.com

[TinierTina]

Originally Posted by Aunt Famous

My mom weighs about 400 pounds and is almost immobile. I love her dearly and accept the situation for what it is, but it is hard to see. It is also hard to hear her talk about how "lucky" I am because I am "naturally thin," since I work very hard to stay fit. Sigh. Her health is one of the biggest motivating factors for me to stay active.

My dad is Paleo Man. He bought a small farm a few years ago, and chops wood, hikes, gardens, hunts, and moves constantly. His wife is a vidiot; she introduced me to the original Firms back in the day.

I have influenced both my brother and sister to exercise, which makes me feel good!

AF

Check out my blog at www.typeALC.com

You mean, his second or later, wife? That current wife, who is not your biological mother ?

Confused.

[sugar rose]

I am loving reading all of your fascinating stories! Thanks so much for your replies!

[TinierTina]

Originally Posted by Maria Valentina

I am loving reading all of your fascinating stories! Thanks so much for your replies!

Please, and your honest and hopefully wordy, opinion, is respectfully requested.

In my case, did I, in my "biggest fitness regret" encapsulate in miniature my finally accepting the subconscious, masochistic search for "the rejecting mother" who'd "wanted to raise budding scientists in the certain zeitgeist" [not the current STEM obsession in light of Chinese parents (parents of American preteens: good luck with that!); but more the reactions to the-then International Geophysical Year (look it up if you don't know - in a capsule: the threat of the then-USSR making it to space before us ...) and, um, "don't be fat like me. You'll never get anywhere with that..." AND, even if too late: finally rejecting her unreasonable demands and what they'd stood for?

I think so ...

Now, how much do you want for the therapy session ?