Way back in the day, at the age of 17 one of the possibly most humiliating things that can happen to a teenager happened to yours truly.
We were in P.E. class, a class I was stubborn enough to take despite advice to the contrary to take "some study related class" if you get my drift.
Yours truly rebellious didnt have the confidence growing up physically - and the reasons have been well outlined in posts before, so I doubt there is a reason to get into that (again) here.
Lets say our "earliest influences" have a LOT in terms of either building/destroying confidence in any regard!
And for some of us, we pick up VIBRATIONS more than others do.
Anyway, it was final exam.
I still remembe the instructor making us RUN - a sum total of two rounds or so on a soccer field - in hot weather granted, but today, at the age of 40 plus, I'd jog around that damn field in my sleep.
I could barely make it HALFWAY around and neither could a lot of my friends (though they did better than me) at the age of almost 17, and I was sore for ...DAYS later!
FRom a gentle jog!
But the pinnacle of humiliation was to come later when it was time to throw the shot put, and given their natural size advantage, the boys naturally threw further than the girls.
Yours truly threw it ...and it landed ...well short of the mark.
And it was a WEAKER throw than many of the other girls!
Rajinder a friend of mine nudged me "desperately".
Come on Rahul! You gotta throw further than the girls at least!
Hey.
He was right.
but I tried, and couldn't!
Humiliating to a T ...
And now?
Well - it's the polar opposite. I can do things men half my age or less couldn't even DREAM of doing.
And though it was really the pushup that got me started on my "strength and conditioning" journey and the HILL - the ONE exercise that really caused the muscles to GROW and the strengh to really ROLLICK was handstand pushups.
That story is mentioned all on the Shoulders like Boulders! page - a must grab for you shoulder fanatics and upper body strength/conditioning guys too! out there.
And on a side note, my daughter came home today after whooping some ASS in the park (apparently - I wasn't there - so I dont know).
But apparently she whooped ass, and while apparently there was "no real reason" to get physical with the dude, she did anyway.
Reminds of me of years ago when a dude her age slapped her for no reason.
She started crying.
I was there.
Dude's Dad was there.
And I walked STRAIGHT up to the Dad and took my daughter with me.
"Honey, give him one!"
She looked at me.
"But, Dad ....!"
Just do it, I said.
She did.
WHACK!
Dude burst into tears.
Dude's Dad glowered at me, but he knew his son was in the wrong.
And off they went.
I'd rather my daughter err on the side of caution my friend. I've been hammered way too many times in school and told "not to be violent". There is no way I'll let my daughter suffer the same fate.
Oh, and I did "quietly" watch the WWE even when my ass was beat ragged (not really, hehe - a normal ass whipping really) and I was told not to. Some things you gotta do, especially the attitude era.
Reminds me of what Uncle Bob said to me when an idiot doctor told me not to go swimming (this doctor had a belly bigger than Croseus by the way and he was a "general health doctor") to "let my liver recover or some nonsense".
Dont know about the beer, Bob said. But the swimming? A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.
Sage!
Anyway, that kiddie story above is mentioned in Kiddie Fitness - and you know one more thing?
When the trolls troll it big time, you know it's GOOD.
Hehe.
Grab it now for your kids - the gift of fitness (much like the gift of GAB, hehe) is the gift that NEVER EVER Stops giving!
Best
Rahul Mookerjee
PS - Shoulder workouts available in COMPILATION format (both courses + the FAQ) HERE.