Kids and Exercise

I was out driving around with my wife and we were talking about something I find very disturbing.

When we were kids, we were always outside playing.

Always!

If it was football season, we played football; baseball season, we played baseball; basketball season, we played basketball.

Our neighborhood had a team and we would play rival neighborhoods. If for some reason everyone wasn't around, we could walk around and find a pickup game.

Take a look now. Hard to find a pickup game. We have neighbors with kids - I didn't even realize they had kids because I never seen them outside playing. Kids are tied up now with computers, video games and more. Parents encourage them to watch t.v. so they know where they are. I have a friend at work who plays with his 4 year old cousin everytime he sees him. He said he always wants to play but his parents always want him to sit down and watch t.v.

I have a 2 year old grandson. For the first year and a half he and his mother lived with us. I played with him every night. Every night! Even as a baby. Started playing ball with him at 6 months old (maybe younger). Now he loves ball and is very active. The teachers told my daughter he is the only one who can throw a ball straight without an arc and is the only one who can catch the ball.

Sure, he watches t.v. . . . In between playing. We rough house all the time. My wife and I get him one weeknight a week and keep him for 1 or 2 nights on the weekend and he is always on the go. He says "C'mon Bob" (he calls me Bob most of the time. lol) and off we go. We play so much he and I are best buddies and he is always wanting to come over and do things.

I encourage you to play with your kids and get them out playing as well. It's disturbing that so many kids nowadays are overweight. Kids need to get back outdoors and start running around. You owe it to them to do your best to get them active.

Cross Training

I was asked by a subscriber if, because I was really sold on fitness ball exercising, I was recommending that and nothing else.

No way dude! I've always advocated cross training.

Listen, there are lots of good exercises of all kinds and you owe it to yourself to try a variety. You don't want your routine to get stale. Keeping it interesting is one of the keys to continuing to exercise all your life.

Definitely I think the fitness ball is great and allows a wide range of exercises. But you still need an aerobic exercise. Or you may want to do some pilates (by the way, you can do them on the ball). Jump rope? Great exercise.

Dumbbell training of interest to you? Or how about hitting the heavy bag?

The point is adding variety keeps it interesting but also hits your muscles in a variety of ways and that's good for overall fitness.

My recommendation is to be certain you are getting the proper aerobic exercise weekly and to work the body's core muscles, along with a strength training routine. I've decided running 3 - 4 times a week and doing my strength training on a fitness ball, which also works my core muscles, is the best route for me to take right now as I can get more accomplished in less time.

But I do vary from time to time to keep the body guessing and do have the advantage of having exercised for years and know what works best for me. You need to work towards that and trying different ways of exercising is advantageous!