Being honest when working out

Have you ever participated in an activity that was really hard or physically demanding? Like trying to run a mile (the whole way) or riding your bike up a hill (the whole way)? When I was a college student playing volleyball, we were required to work out with weights and also required to do a certain amount of “reps” (repetitions) for each lift. Sometimes, the weight was really really heavy and it was really really hard to make it all the way to 8 or 10 times! But…even though my arms were shaking and my muscles hurt, I kept going until all of the reps were done. I knew that if I lifted only 7 out of 10 times then I was not only hurting myself, but hurting my team. Sometimes, the weight was just too much to even do one rep, and that can be dangerous. If working out or playing in an activity is dangerous, you should never do it. But if you are capable of doing the activity or the workout then try to do it the best you can!

In P.E. we have warm-ups before our class and during the warm-up, we do a certain number of jumping jacks. Read the following situations and answer each question for each student.

Student #1-  I do my jumping jacks SUPER fast!  My arms only go up halfway and my legs only go out a little as well.  But…I do 25 instead of 20!  Am I being honest with myself and getting a full workout? If no, why not?

Student #2- I go slow and make sure I am doing the jumping jacks correctly, my arms go above my head and my legs are more then shoulder width apart when I jump.  I get tired real fast,  so I  only do 15 out of 20. Am I being honest with myself, is that a full workout? If no, why not?

Student #3-I go slow and make sure that my arms go above my head and legs out wide. I count and jump along with Mrs. H and make sure to do all 20 jumping jacks. Sometimes I wish I could do more! Am I being honest with myself and getting a good workout?

Which student is making the best desision about workouts?