Wednesday, November 13, 2019

The Day After


I woke up this morning feeling as though someone had taken a lead pipe to my mid-section,
a result of yesterday’s side planks and full planks. I decided to give myself the morning off and skip water aerobics, not a tough choice, given the temp outside hovering below 20 degrees combined with a brisk wind from the north.

          My aching abs took me back to the 1960s and a time of year we school kids all dreaded: physical fitness week.
 We didn’t give much thought to its source, but a little time on line told me that it was probably part of the US Fitness Program, JFK’s efforts to increase (literally) the nation’s strength.

          All I know is that for days afterwards it was a challenge just to creak up the flight of stairs to my next class.

          Does anyone remember anything similar in their public school?

6 comments:

  1. I remember we had PE every day and it was required!

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    1. And of course, the very best part was the blue gym suits.

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  2. Oh boy, do I ever! It was amazing how sore I could get, in just about every place, but then after a couple of weeks, I'd be doing all the same stuff with no soreness at all. :-)

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  3. I took calisthenics for my college gym credits. In for a dime, in for a dollar, eh! I could hang from the bar and hold my legs at right angles for many minutes. I forget the record, but I beat it. In those identical gym suits. That had to be clean every Monday. I started freshman gym in a size 14. When I graduated I probably was a six or eight. The gym instructor offered to give me a new suit, free, but I refused. The old one lasted four years.

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  4. I don't remember a full fitness week, but I do remember several PE lessons per week. Two lessons outdoors with some sort of group sport and one in the gym doing somersaults and parallel bars type of stuff. Which is kinder to the body I imagine than only one full on session a year.

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