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Born to Rest

harvardmagazine.com

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Re: Born to Rest

#31

Post by Jtsummers »

sotojuan wrote: post #26
Jtsummers wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking specifically of college, I'm unfamiliar with current K-12 requirements in the US. Physical education is no longer required at most universities. Not even one or two semesters. It is offered . But so is going outside for a jog, or dropping to the floor and doing push-ups and sit-ups. The issue is one of motivation. If students (really, people) aren't feeling motivated to be active then they won't. Attaching a…

I can see a bunch of college students angry and complaining that their college feels like high school and that their money/time is wasted in such classes.

Probably. Students will complain about everything.

Re: Born to Rest

#32

Post by tdb7893 »

sotojuan wrote: post #26
Jtsummers wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking specifically of college, I'm unfamiliar with current K-12 requirements in the US. Physical education is no longer required at most universities. Not even one or two semesters. It is offered . But so is going outside for a jog, or dropping to the floor and doing push-ups and sit-ups. The issue is one of motivation. If students (really, people) aren't feeling motivated to be active then they won't. Attaching a…

I can see a bunch of college students angry and complaining that their college feels like high school and that their money/time is wasted in such classes.

I ran and did judo so required PE classes would've just been annoying on top of that. This is purely anecdotal but I knew pretty much what I wanted to take so required courses just ended up getting in the way for me. At a certain point you have to trust college students to be able to decide how they themselves want to live

Re: Born to Rest

#33

Post by ars »

This explains why I am unable to bring myself to exercise without getting exhausted instantly.

But if I need to do something like fix a car, build something, whatever, I'll work myself to utter exhaustion and not even notice.

Re: Born to Rest

#34

Post by striking »

Jtsummers wrote: post #15
rubidium wrote: post #11

Modern solution to campus exercise requirement: Put the dining hall 1 mile away from the dorms.

And remove cheap, high calorie, low nutrition foods. No reason schools ought to provide students with tons of mac & cheese, they can do that to themselves. Give them healthy, nutritious options with the meal plans, and let them spend extra on the unhealthy stuff if they really want it.

Isn't college where people are supposed to be responsible for their own actions? Or have we extended the hand-holding that far out?

Re: Born to Rest

#35

Post by ars »

justinator wrote: post #23

Is there actually any evidence that ancient hunter gatherer groups didn't do what we now call "exercise" on a voluntary basis? Some ideas come to mind: dancing, walkabouts, spirit quests, right of passage rituals, ?ancient forms of martial arts? I am compelled to believe that early man did things merely to do them, including exercise.

None of those things you mentioned are exercise. They are physical activity yes, but productive (including mentally productive) physical activity.

Exercise is physical activity without being productive at all.

Re: Born to Rest

#36

Post by Jtsummers »

striking wrote: post #34
Jtsummers wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And remove cheap, high calorie, low nutrition foods. No reason schools ought to provide students with tons of mac & cheese, they can do that to themselves. Give them healthy, nutritious options with the meal plans, and let them spend extra on the unhealthy stuff if they really want it.

Isn't college where people are supposed to be responsible for their own actions? Or have we extended the hand-holding that far out?

Sure, they can be responsible for their own actions. Doesn't mean the schools have to provide them the option to be actively harmful to their health. They're adults (as mentioned in another comment). If they want to buy a few cases of Coca Cola and drink that instead of water every day for 4 years, that's their prerogative. No school should stop them from making such a terrible, stupid mistake, but no school should present that to them as part of the meal plan either.

Re: Born to Rest

#37

Post by Amezarak »

striking wrote: post #34
Jtsummers wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And remove cheap, high calorie, low nutrition foods. No reason schools ought to provide students with tons of mac & cheese, they can do that to themselves. Give them healthy, nutritious options with the meal plans, and let them spend extra on the unhealthy stuff if they really want it.

Isn't college where people are supposed to be responsible for their own actions? Or have we extended the hand-holding that far out?

My last year of college the university finished a brand new dining hall and forced every student living on campus to buy an expensive meal plan, justifying this by saying students ate poorly and the meal plans would force them to eat a balanced diet. Well, my diet was perfectly fine - was being the key word, as I can't resist cookies and ice cream for long when I am surrounded by them at a cafeteria - and as a matter of fact, a lot cheaper. A lot cheaper, because the basic meal plan only got me one meal a day, so I still had to buy groceries.

So I guess the answer is yes.

Re: Born to Rest

#38

Post by CalRobert »

Jtsummers wrote: post #24
jacalata wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bringing it back? Is it no longer offered?

Speaking specifically of college, I'm unfamiliar with current K-12 requirements in the US. Physical education is no longer required at most universities. Not even one or two semesters. It is offered . But so is going outside for a jog, or dropping to the floor and doing push-ups and sit-ups. The issue is one of motivation. If students (really, people) aren't feeling motivated to be active then they won't. Attaching a…

Considering that gym class was hell on Earth for some of us fat people and we greatly looked forward to the liberation of college, I think the idea of mandatory PE is horrible.

PE is usually taught in a manner that's great if you're already fit, and atrocious if you're fat. It's hard on the joints and exemplifies how much weaker/slower/less valuable to society you are compared to the fit kids.

I know this because I WAS fat. Horribly so. I lost nearly 100 pounds in my mid 20's by doing something simple - ignoring the exercises I hated (running, any team sports, etc.) and doing what I loved (swimming and cycling, which no PE class had offered). Instead of agonizing knee pain I experienced the joy of cycling, and instead of being a dripping sweaty pig I was in a nice cool pool, where body heat was transferred away easily.

I also quit eating the poison that some call food on a college campus. Remember that at this time people thought margarine was comparatively healthy!

(Note - I use the word "fat" because I think it's an accurate descriptor. It has unfortunately taken on a lot of emotional overtones. But let's be honest, the simplest word that describes the experience I had is "fat").

Re: Born to Rest

#39

Post by kornish »

justinator wrote: post #23

Is there actually any evidence that ancient hunter gatherer groups didn't do what we now call "exercise" on a voluntary basis? Some ideas come to mind: dancing, walkabouts, spirit quests, right of passage rituals, ?ancient forms of martial arts? I am compelled to believe that early man did things merely to do them, including exercise.

Interestingly, all of those activities you list seem to have an underlying purpose beyond merely "fitness for the sake of fitness" - exercise (and the fitness which follows) are incidental side-effects of completing those activites.

Not sure what you mean by "actual" evidence, but we know a lot of what we know from studies of modern-day hunter gatherer groups and it seems unlikely that the ancients would have significantly different behavior around needless calorie expenditure.

Re: Born to Rest

#40

Post by thesmallestcat »

Jtsummers wrote: post #30
thesmallestcat wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea, starve the skinny students!

Why would they starve? Are skinny students only capable of eating unhealthy, carb-loaded, crap? Most healthy skinny people I know eat fruits, vegetables, and moderate amounts of meat, dairy and carbs, or they run 20 miles a day.

Capable? No, people with the sort of metabolism I'm talking about need that (high carb/protein) on top of the healthy diet you described. Removing that dining option to keep fatsos from gorging themselves doesn't seem fair. High calorie food lets me get adequate energy from a reasonably-sized dish.

A brief skinny manifesto: I hate how the world caters to the obese. Thermostat kept at low temperature in all seasons because of fat insulation. Replace high calorie options with high fiber so their overworked/stretched system feels "full." All diet/nutrition advice biased towards losing weight. The list goes on... and things geared towards losing weight/being comfortable as an obese person naturally are useless or make life worse for somebody trying to gain/maintain weight.

It's a public health crisis, I get it, but it still sucks.

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