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Are you struggling with having your loved ones to start exercising?

The biggest hurdles I've encountered getting people to train more are:

-the initial soreness/fatigue from training. As someone else noted, this seems to be discouraging to people just starting. They need someone to help them find the appropriate approach so they don't initially overdo it. They also need to understand that it's normal to feel sore and tired when you first start something new.

-making it a habit. I think this is a big one. Training for fitness/health/whatever has to become a part of the person's lifestyle. I think some people try something for a little while, don't get the results they are after (which are often unrealistically promised to them through magazines/socialmedia personalities), and conclude that it's "not working" or "not for them" or something. Finding ways to make a new habit is key.
 
Luis T. Gonzalez said:
I've always been into physical endeavors and a book work. My son was born with an eye that he cannot see out of all the way. So I have always nudged him towards academics. He plays four instruments and has straight A's. And he wakes up every Sunday to go to church on his own. I'm pretty proud of the young man he is becoming even if he can't ever do some really impressive physical things. I think the blame isn't the "soft" kids, it is parents taking the time to parent. My son knows "manly" things because he has a man in his life.
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Amen. Too many kids being raised by screens.
 
Dydo said:
Yes, that's right, you can illustrate your points if that's the point. But this was an example of the actual situation at the moment. But I say that most, not all, of the olden days were more strong and brave boys. And now there are, but they are fewer. The others increased their numbers. When I was a young man the army was compulsory and every healthy man went through it for 1-2 years. Now the army is mercenary and almost all the young men have never taken up arms.
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There was more need for them. Supply and demand. I pray that my son never has to serve, i fear the draft and people dying over conflicts that have little to nothing to do with them. This is an American perspective, i respect those that have fought for their country, but my countries wars have mostly been for monetary gains.
 
The relationship between a person and the reason they train is important.
I remember my ex stop training for half of the year after knowing me. Before that training is the way to make she felt good about herself. But after awhile she had problem with self image (over sexualize her appearance) and she didn't like that. When we were together (like a month or two, she was in Japan and I was in Vietnam) I never saw she did any kind of exercise.
Meanwhile I still traveled between the homestay (where we stayed) and my house to get my light, heavy and medium ROTK. I wad addicted to training. Still now. Cannot help it.
Compared daily exercise with hardness in life is dumb. My dad did some physical activity, but refuse to use my recommendations of training. He also fought the war when only 15. The first time he had to go to the battle was in the second Quang Tri citadel battle. That's one of the bloodiness battle in the Vietnam War. I actually feel I need to prove myself in training/physical activity because compared to the older generation, I was soft.
 
Dydo said:
Yes, that's right, you can illustrate your points if that's the point. But this was an example of the actual situation at the moment. But I say that most, not all, of the olden days were more strong and brave boys. And now there are, but they are fewer. The others increased their numbers. When I was a young man the army was compulsory and every healthy man went through it for 1-2 years. Now the army is mercenary and almost all the young men have never taken up arms.
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Having been in the army twice, I do not think I will encourage any of my sons to join unless it is something they want to do. Teddy Roosevelt (former American president) was ALL about the glory of wars and fighting and what not... until his son died in a war. Suddenly he changed his tune.

I also don't think whether someone has been in the military or not has much bearing on them being physically active or not. In the same vein, I do not think having been in the military makes one "tougher," "stronger," or "braver."
 
LarryB said:
Scarcity mindset imo. Not enough water: step up desalination, not enough food: stop legislation that hurts farmers, not enough power: improve our aging infrastructures that leek energy.
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Not to detour much from the OP's topic, but I think I agree. From my perspective, from what I have been exposed to, we don't really have an overpopulation problem, as much as we have a resource distribution problem. I don't believe for a second that there isn't enough food, water, and shelter to go around for every person.

Regarding war, toughness, masculinity:
I fail to see how a world in which someone can choose to not be a soldier, or act like one, is a worse one.

Before someone says it, I will address it: I'm waiting for someone to use that quote, "tough times create tough men, tough men create easy times, easy times create soft men, soft men create tough times." It's very similar to saying something like "we need tough men just in case something bad happens." This line of thinking doesn't seem to address any issues, imo. Just because someone's ancestors had to fight a tough war doesn't mean they themselves have to act like they are going to fight in a tough war. Aren't there plenty of veterans who fought in a war so that future generations wouldn't have to?

I am all for capability. I think we need capable people, because hard stuff does happen. Where I draw the line is when people equate "capable" with "masculine."

These ideas can apply to the topic at hand too. Some people have a hard time getting into fitness because they think they have to fill some kind of image they've seen around it.
 
John K said:
Having been in the army twice, I do not think I will encourage any of my sons to join unless it is something they want to do. Teddy Roosevelt (former American president) was ALL about the glory of wars and fighting and what not... until his son died in a war. Suddenly he changed his tune.

I also don't think whether someone has been in the military or not has much bearing on them being physically active or not. In the same vein, I do not think having been in the military makes one "tougher," "stronger," or "braver."
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Agree on your first point. I don't think I'll ever actively encourage my daughter to join the military (and not just because she's female). And that's with myself having served in the Army for 7 years, which I don't regret. It was a different time, though.

That said, I absolutely think being in the military makes it more likely that one will be physically active. You are exposed to various forms of exercise every day, and as you go through PT you can experience first hand the benefits of being stronger, physically and mentally. I absolutely think the military set me on the path of my physical journey, and it was always a goal of mine to try to max out my PT test each time it came around (which I usually did!). That said, I have a very open, determined, and borderline obsessive mind. I have always been a perfectionist, so it seems only natural that would apply to my physical behavior and self image as well as other life pursuits. Perhaps that's why I've been non-stop physically active from the time I was a young teen all the way through now at 46.
 
Luis T. Gonzalez said:
I think the blame isn't the "soft" kids, it is parents taking the time to parent.
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I apply this to academics, as well. I encourage kids to read and write as much as possible, but when kids are raised in a book-free environment at home, I can't blame them for their lack of enthusiasm reading. They weren't raised around it and it's a foreign idea to sit and actually read something for enjoyment. I still try even though it's an uphill battle. Reminds me of a cartoon I saw, where two mothers and two children were sitting on a park bench. One mother and child had smartphones, one mother and child had books. The mother with the smartphone asks the mother with the book, "How do you get your child to read on their own?"
bluejeff said:
I fail to see how a world in which someone can choose to not be a soldier, or act like one, is a worse one.
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Amen.
 
Rygor the Swoleman said:
That said, I absolutely think being in the military makes it more likely that one will be physically active. You are exposed to various forms of exercise every day, and as you go through PT you can experience first hand the benefits of being stronger, physically and mentally. I absolutely think the military set me on the path of my physical journey, and it was always a goal of mine to try to max out my PT test each time it came around (which I usually did!). That said, I have a very open, determined, and borderline obsessive mind. I have always been a perfectionist, so it seems only natural that would apply to my physical behavior and self image as well as other life pursuits. Perhaps that's why I've been non-stop physically active from the time I was a young teen all the way through now at 46.
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Most GWOT vets I know stopped being physically active the moment it wasn't required. There are of course exceptions. Pre-GWOT vets don't seem to be any more physically active then the rest of the population.
 
John K said:
Most GWOT vets I know stopped being physically active the moment it wasn't required. There are of course exceptions. Pre-GWOT vets don't seem to be any more physically active then the rest of the population.
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www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Weight Change Following US Military Service

Although overweight and obesity are less prevalent among active-duty military personnel compared with similar persons not serving in the military, no such differences have been observed between veterans and nonveterans.To assess the magnitude of weight ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

This doesn't exactly look at physical activity, but does look at obesity rates. Going by that, your observation seems pretty spot on.
 
Sometimes it takes an event. Mine was a bad back injury; my wife's was watching her ability to move deteriorate as her hip deteriorated - she got a new hip about 9 months ago, and after the operation, she recovered back to her previous level of strength and conditioning and then just keep on going. I SQ/BP/DL and do AXE, she DL's and does AXE, and it worked out for us to have a near-max DL day together a few days ago.

We had a cute result, both stopping at the same number without even realizing it. Hers was in lbs and mine was in kg.

-S-
 
I am in no way promoting war and I don't want my children to have to be soldiers now. Aside from being taught to use a weapon, the military educates you in many things. Being able to withstand bad weather conditions, insufficient food at times, being sleepy, getting used to doing hard physical work, exercising and building your character. To learn that at some point your life or the life of humanity may not be easy and to have at least some preparation to meet that blow and be able to deal with many challenges. Especially in the mental aspect.
 
Dydo said:
I am in no way promoting war and I don't want my children to have to be soldiers now. Aside from being taught to use a weapon, the military educates you in many things. Being able to withstand bad weather conditions, insufficient food at times, being sleepy, getting used to doing hard physical work, exercising and building your character. To learn that at some point your life or the life of humanity may not be easy and to have at least some preparation to meet that blow and be able to deal with many challenges. Especially in the mental aspect.
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100% You learn what "hard" really means, thus later in life many things that other people see as hard seem not so hard.
 
Dydo said:
Being able to withstand bad weather conditions, insufficient food at times, being sleepy, getting used to doing hard physical work, exercising and building your character. To learn that at some point your life or the life of humanity may not be easy and to have at least some preparation to meet that blow and be able to deal with many challenges. Especially in the mental aspect.
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I have never been to Turkey and do not know what opportunities you have there, but other than the military there are a lot of other ways to building these qualities, including athletics and recreational activities such as hunting and backpacking.
 
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