Todays Workouts
Rowing
Baseball
Football
Lessons in Life Skills
Today in Life Skills Class the 7th graders learned about the nervous system with the help of gymnast's rings.
The boys were asked support themselves on the rings three separate times for as long as they could. They were also told to look for changes in their ability to support themselves from set to set.
What is typical of a beginner on the rings is to struggle mightily the first attempt. The rings shake uncontrollably and quickly they lose support as the rings shoot off in random directions. However, on the second attempt, and improving even more on the third, they improve greatly. This hold is longer and less shaky. Even the end comes less abruptly. So did the boys notice the difference?
Of course they did! It also gave me the opportunity to teach them about getting stronger. I asked them if they thought they got stronger from one set to the next and the answer was a resounding, "YES!" Next, I asked them if they thought their muscles got bigger from one set to the next. This answer was, "no". So the only question left to ask was, "if your muscular system didn't improve, what system of your body did?" After a minute and some prodding they got the answer right. It's the nervous system!
I told them to remember that spending time improving your nervous systems ability to control your muscles can sometimes be a more potent way to improve strength than spending your time trying to add more muscles. It was a good day of class...
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