Info: I'm a freshman at my high school. I love my classes, schedules, everything..except I have gym every other day, and I can barely survive it. I have an absurdly long list of health problems that have made me very overweight, as a 250-ish pound female. I exercise regularly, I've been a vegetarian my whole life, and I take my medicine regularly, but nothing ever really works. In my gym class, you start out by walking for 10-15 minutes, then you do sprints, some form of ball game (handball, ultimate ball, dodgeball, basketball, etc), and then usually interval cardio training.
Problem: I don't get tired when I do gym, but rather my ankles and calves start almost unbearably aching. Barely 5 minutes into class, I have to slow down to a snail crawl because the pain is excruciating, even through I wear ankle compresses on both feet to help. I did a 24-minute mile for my last mile run test, and the only reason why I'm not failing gym is because I try extremely hard to catch up to everyone else and have a good attitude about it. Today, I had gym and it was terrible as usual, same excruciating pain, but when I got home I realized I was very tired from class and I decided to take a nap. When I woke up, I couldn't walk, and every time I tried to move my legs they'd cramp up because my muscles were so overworked. I'm hydrated, so I know it has to be because of the class, and now I'm scared that I'll be dealing with this nearly 3 times a week. If anyone can help me get through this by giving me advice, please reply. Thank you.
I can't survive my high school gym class...help?
- Posted:
- 3+ months ago by Contrave
- Topics:
- school, high, gym, every, schools, everything, schedule, days, high school, day
Added 3+ months ago:
If anyone else has this problem, Ella S. has answered very well. Thank you!
Responses (2)
Hi. I'm so sorry that you are going through this. I am a fomer PE teacher. Have you talked to your teacher about what you are going through? All teachers have their own set of policies and react differently, but I always tried to adapt to students with special conditions like yours. For example, I would have a floor yoga or Pilates routine that you could do without putting pressure on your ankles. All of your efforts sound very admirable. Have you tried asking one of your doctors to write a note for you limiting or adapting your activity due to the pain? Especially since your weight is a result of your other health conditions, and the weight may be affecting your ankles?
I would encourage you not to just sit out and do a written assignment, but to continue to be active because that may help your overall health.
I wish you all the best!
I'm not surprised that your PE teacher wants everyone to do the same activities. It's a common way for teachers, since it's the easiest way to evaluate and grade. But if you ever work out outside of PE class, just keep in mind that there are other activities that may be more suitable for you.
It sounds like you have a good attitude about it and are doing all you can do. That is a good idea to modify things yourself. I was the kind of teacher who would give full credit if the students were dressed (as it was required) and showed effort at their level. I certainly hope your teacher is taking into account how much more difficult these workouts are for you.
Are you required to take PE all 4 years? In IL, for example, the law is changing and it will be up to the individual school districts as to how much PE is required, so many many be lowering their 4 year requirement.
It sounds like you are conscious of what you are eating to try to maintain the best weight you can. I would suggest continuing to see if there are anyways you can improve your diet to loose weight, since ultimately, that should help ease up on your ankles. Perhaps that's not in your control, but if you can it could make a big difference in your life.
I wish you the best of luck. Ella
Thank you very much. I am required to take it all 4 years, but only one semester each year. Your insight really helped, thank you thank you thank you <3
You're very welcome. Hang in there! I think your positive attitude will get you far in life. :-)
It'll be hard, but one thing's for sure...high school is much better than middle school in all other areas, so don't be afraid or uncomfortable! Only a few weeks in, I've already signed up for gaming club, art club, and the school play, I have all As or Bs, and all the teachers are super willing to help you whenever you need it. From experience, I know some of the challenges of being overweight in a school, but even schools with 3 or 4 flights of stairs like mine are really easy because they give you plenty of time to change classes. :D
Thank you so much for responding :) Yes, I have talked to my teacher about it. I love him very dearly, he's 70 years old and my father had him when he went to my school, but one thing he's very strict on is that everyone does everything the same in his class. My doctors also think it's the sort of thing I'm supposed to push through, so neither them nor my mother are willing to write a note to change anything. I remember that my old physical therapist (for my back after a scoliosis surgery) said that my ankles were weak, but she couldn't work on them because she wasn't fully trained for that. Cost-wise, my mother can't afford to add on any more doctors to my already long list of special ones, so out of school physical therapy isn't really an option either.
I had gym class earlier today and my solution has just to stay in the back and try my best. It's hard, but I find that if I just self-modify the routines it becomes bearable. Today we did Crossfit for about 20 minutes, sprints/jogging/cardio for about 40, and then touch football for the last 25. I just tried to do as little as possible while still trying my best, and even if I don't get the highest marks because of it, I've been passing so far. I did low planks instead of high planks, high knees slowly, etc. Thank you for your response, and if you have any more tips I'd love to hear them!