Comments on: Fostering An Active Lifestyle

By: T Vitiello

T Vitiello — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 14:02:33 +0000

It’s sad to think that this generation of children may not outlive their parents because of the poor nutrition children are fed today.

By: RossTraining.com Blog : Related Thoughts on the Giuliano Stroe Story

RossTraining.com Blog : Related Thoughts on the Giuliano Stroe Story — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:39:16 +0000

[...] have a three year old son and a 16 month old daughter. As I mentioned recently, they both love to play in the gym. They have been around professional athletes since day one. It [...]

By: Becky

Becky — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 07:19:43 +0000

Great post! Sounds like you are an awesome dad. I believe that every parent would like to do this for their children, but unfortunately, due to time constraints and the demands of life, don't feel they have time, or simply just don't know how to get their kids more active. There is a great book titled, "Family Fit" written by Dr. John E. Mayer that teaches parents how to accomplish this- full of great nutritional information and offers a lot of great family activity ideas that involves the whole family.

By: mbg

mbg — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:28:57 +0000

Awesome. I have four kids. 7,6,3, and a two month. I have home made rings in the based and the three love to play on them. (we call it playing, but they are really working out). I also have a boxing thing that we all punch. We do have a Wii, but limit it to an hour or two a week. We also are constantly outside playing soccer, dodgeball, etc….Sword fighting (for all new fathers, get yourself a sword, you would be amazed how much a 3 yr old can hit you). I also just implemented that we have to do 10 pushups, 15 situps and 10 burpees everyday for our exercise………Parents should lead from the front and quite worrying about being cool. Remember, it is later than you think!!!

By: macoelmeco

macoelmeco — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:01:59 +0000

awesome post Ross… wise words.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:52:49 +0000

Hi Ross & all,
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Great post as ALWAYS!
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When our daughter was a toddler, I realized that if I wanted to be around for her, rather than die of a heart-attack/stroke at an early age like my father, I had to make some changes. Overweight since I was a kid, I changed my diet and took up daily exercise. In the process I lost 60-plus pounds, and got a whole lot fitter. I love to work out- in fact I wish I could do it full-time…
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Anyway, she’s now ten, in her third year of year-round swimming- she’s chomping at the bit to go to practice and meets, and is a championship swimmer- because she wants to, and with our support. Her work ethic is top-shelf, and it carry’s over from schoolwork to athletics and visa-verse. Her school also recently began an “Assistant-Coach” program, to foster activity of all the kids during recess and lunch, and she decided on her own to volunteer. Many children, both boys and girls,volunteered. I believe not by coincidence they are the the ones that are into regular sports: swimming, gymnastics, soccer, baseball etc.
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Interestingly her observation is that the ones who are in the “best-shape/condition” are the mostly the girls, because they do the year-round activities (swimming and gymnastics) verses the boys and girls who do seasonal league activities (base-ball, soccer) and then not so much during the rest of the year.
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Exercise, nutrition, state-of-mind. They are lifestyle choices. Each with their own rewards or consequences. Our kids see with their own eye’s our examples (good or bad) and the effect it has on themselves and their peers.
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You lead by example- like it or not- It’s more a question of which direction are you and they headed ??? Don’t worry, even if you falter, but keep going, they will follow. And you’ll be very proud of them and yourself too.
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Mark

By: Patrick McVeigh

Patrick McVeigh — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:18:34 +0000

Great post, Ross!! I couldn’t agree with you more–keep up the good work!!

By: Administrator

Administrator — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:44:01 +0000

Sasha, of course the end goal isn’t to actually be an example, as that wouldn’t even mean anything. You can/should however offer a positive lead for them to observe.

By: Sasha

Sasha — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 06:43:16 +0000

Ross,

You article is great. One note though – I don’t think a parent can really lead by example if a goal is to be an example for a kid, rather than to be that example for oneself.

By: Adam

Adam — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:59:18 +0000

Ross:

*Excellent post.

*One point, beyond parents, children are significantly influenced by their peer group. If their friends, cousins, kid brothers and sisters are sedentary, then the probability of them being active decreases.

*I have a 14 year old son who swims competitively and skateboards regularly and a 10 year old daughter that does TKD. Much like you and your children, they have always seen me stretch, exercise, and eat well. They have also been lucky to have young adults around them training hard (fighters and swimmers). They are now old enough to encourage and challenge each other to improve performance.

*But, I am most grateful when I hear from my son about his friends challenging him to skate harder or when I watch Master Kim send my daughter to teach forms to junior students. These interactions with peers that are similarly engaged do more to reinforce my beliefs on the importance of being active than my example alone ever would.

*Parents responsibilities include setting the example and facilitating / reinforcing the positive interactions a child has with friends, classmates, teammates, etc.