So is it genetic?

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  • My dad was very fit - a judo coach, he thought nothing of walking 20 miles for fun!  But leukaemia, paraproteinanaemia, a heart virus and now chronic fatigue knobbled all that.  Now he's lucky to get out a half hour walk without paying for it image - my mum was never into fitness at all.

    I was alway fit - running for school, national judo champ, never stopped.  Until I got pregnant with our kids and turned into an amazonian!  But always aspired to get fit - I've finished 4 marathons and a bunch of halfs and am now training for a half IM.

    My brother and sister are not into fitness at all - my bro is about 6 stone overweight, my sister about 5 (having lost 3 or 4 stone already) - I'm still a lardy but try to keep going!

  • I'm siding with PO here - my lardy arse probably has some basis in the genes I inherited, but nurture plays a part too. Children get labelled early on, I was the clever one, brother was the sporty one. OK, so I would far rather sit and read a book over do any form of exercise, but, as the "clever" one I was encouraged to sit & read books, while him playing out on the green until all hours was also encouraged.

    I can see the parental dilema, you're supposed to encourage your children to read and if that's what I want to do, surely that's a good thing? And to force a child to do something they really HATE can't be a very plesant task either.  As usual, one to the exclusion of the other isn't great in the long term, but it must be a very difficult balance to strike.

    I suppose now it is my decison to take up exercise, it isn't forced on me. That means that this time round, I actually try, something that my PE report always proved I never did.

    KH - I know what you mean - smart arse brothers ought to be shot!! The thing that does rile me is that if he actually tried, he could be bloody fast, but he just doesn't want to.

  • My Brother can run, three training runs and he did a 1:35 10 miler and he could of gone faster. My Mum and Dad rock climb, I hate hights!

    My Cousin is an Iron Man and he does an Iron Man race every year.

    My Grandad was a really good runner.

    I find running really hard, I have to really work at it. I'll never be a fast runner but I always finish and try to run faster than the last race. I can swim really well and I'm really good at fencing.

  • My dad used to do a lot of running during his time in the army along with squash every week too.

    My mum played a bit of hockey at school as a goalie but other than that she didn't do a lot.

    My brother and I have always enjoyed doing sports including hockey, basketball, football, rugby, cricket and badminton but I am the only one who has/is doing running for their main source of exercise.

    I have always been encouraged to be outside playing rather than sat indoors doing nothing so for me it's mainly been down to nurture rather than nature, I find the running hard at times so there is no way I have a natural talent for it

  • LIVERBIRD wrote (see)

    *nods at BB*image

    BB - what's a "tall, but built like a brick sh*thouse" frame called then?

    Um....pie-o-morph? image
  • Both parents v active and have done lots of different sports, although no running.

    Have 40+ cousins and only 2 of them run to my knowledge but they both compete and my female cousin is a very good junior runner while my male cousin is a pretty good just turned vet runner.  Some of the rest are fagging pie-o-morphs though!

  • My dad was a keen club runner for years - I'm not sure that me following in his footsteps to a degree is nature over nurture though. I could be copying his habit.

    Actually, what I observe is that as I get towards my mid-30s, more and more of my peers run.  It goes with quitting smoking and all night parties, balancing work stress with a healthy outlet etc. etc. I started as I hit 30.

    So it's my age as much as family background, I reckon.

  • On the genetics side of things. Non-exercise Activity Thermogenisis (NEAT) is almost certainly genetically determined - for those of you going "Huh?" - that is fidgeting for those of us who like things said to us plain.

    There is a fair bit of socialisation around activity - I am dyspraxic (clumsy as hell), so despite growing up in a sports mad country I was very poor at sports until I discovered XC running - and that I was good at because I realised the faster I ran the sooner I could go and read in the library.

    As an adult, now I understand WHY I am so bad at coordination etc, I can teach myself better techniques etc, as long as I can find someone who is willing to work through the stages of a movement with me, so I can observe then replicate - so I am a reasonable golfer as well (but English clubs are so anal - the club back home let me run between shots carrying three clubs)

    Helen

  • I know this thread has gone quiet but I have to ask KiwiHelen: what have you done to improve on your clumsiness? Mine is atrocious and only seems to be getting worse. I am always bruised down my arms and legs from walking into door frames / handles / locks / tables etc. And if I try to carry something... or handle glass...

  • There is a very good couple of books:

    "too loud, too bright, too fast, too tight", which explains the adult experience of sensory integration disorder - which is one of the common "causes" of dyspraxia. I accidentally stumbled on it (quite literary - bumped up against the shelf in the library), about 4 years ago, and on reading went "ah-ha" because it so explained my own experience of a multitude of situations - on top of being clumbsy, which is a low sensory issue, I have high sensory issues with noise, light and odour.

    Once I was armed with that knowledge I spent several months diarying my experiences of sensory integration problems - taking the view that "normal" was not damaging myself inadvertantly by walking in to things and not being overly distressed by odours, sounds and bright light.

    Part of the "ah-ha" moment was the idea that things could be linked - that if I was having the right stimulus in one area, then I might have less problems in another - which is why sensory integration disorder is not accepted in the mainstream of occupational therapy and supportive thereputic medicine.

    Anyway, I discovered swimming with its tactile (surface senses) and proprioceptive (deep joint senses)stimulated me in such a way as to dramatically reduce my audio hypersensitivity, and moderate my visual sensitivity. I have yet to find out something that reduces the odour issue but I am OK with that.

    Since then I have discovered that any kind of proprioceptive stimulus (running is one of them), if done regularly, keeps me ticking over as more coordinated and importantly with less free floating anxiety. Being less anxious makes me less likely to make foolish movements which end up in bruises.

    The second book: "the out of synch child" is about applied sensory integration theory and how to use it to manage dyspraxia and anxiety. I've found from that that using things like a weighted blanket, using coarse towels to dry me down, using white noise or pink noise when I want to relax, stroking my cats, doing tai chi and pilates type exercises all help with the coordination and anxiety for my particular sensory integration issues...

    On a quick inspection of the legs this morning, I am down to three bruises, which is an impressivly low count - I am 2 days off a 10k race, so am not as active as last week, where I had only one big bruise!

  • After a lay off from running for about 12 years I started back this year and have competed in quite a number of 10K events.  Two of my sons also took it up again and have competed.   Don't know if it is genetic but we all enjoy it - that is the main thing.   I had prostate cancer 3 years back and spent about 6 months off and on in hospital.  Next year I hope to be back doing half marathons and hopefully a full marathon.  Its the mindset that counts not age - I am 72 years young by the way.
  • Good on you for getting going at 72 years young. My Mum took up Tai'chi at 72!

    Hope you are staying well inspite of the prostate cancer,
  • Kiwihelen wrote (see)
    ... My Dad used to run marathons ... he did it for the endorphins. ...
    I'm worried I don't do enough for sea mammals too. Since I stopped taking cod liver oil my eyesight is fading.
  • LOL - poor you, obviously reading too much in the dark!

    <or you could be doing other things that are bad for your eyesight, but I am too polite to suggest those>
  • oh yes it's in the genes, but you gotta train too.

    We've had 3 generations of international athletes in our family. Is that genetics or enviroment. Go to be a combination.

    Oh, and well done on getting back into running werdnag and good luck with the treatment image

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