Build It and They Will Come...Do It and They Will Follow!

Yesterday morning I was coaching in the gym and I had one of those Ah-ha moments! You know the ones, when you realize you have a point to make and you want to let everyone know what's going on in your mind. Let me paint the scenario for you...I am coaching the 8:30 class which consists of seven people two of which I want to bring to your attention today. Greg and Angie are normally in our corporate boot camp program but were given the opportunity to use the gym on their off week of boot camp. They showed up every morning this week with two little ones in tow Lily and Carrie.

Now, sometimes it's enough work for us to get ourselves out of bed and drag our butts to the gym but this is an entire family getting up in the morning on their week off of work and school and hitting the gym. What are we teaching our children here? What are they telling their kids? There are so many things that come to mind:

• Mommy and Daddy want to be healthy so we can take better care of you.
• Our health and fitness are important to us.
• Make healthy living a priority.
• We love you enough to take care of ourselves.

My point is this:

If you show your kids that living a healthy lifestyle is what you want to do then do it and they will follow.

I coached and out of the corner of my eye watched as these two little girls mimicked everything their parents did. The workout was:

21-18-15-12-9-6-3

SDLHP

Wall Ball

Box Jumps

They stood in the doorway of the gym (I assume they were told that was as far as they could go) and found the equipment they needed in order to do these exercises. As Greg was doing his SDLHP with a 65# barbell...Lily was in the doorway doing them with a 10# kettlebell. When they would see him switch to the wall ball I saw Carrie take the 5 lb orange balls and toss them in the air and catch them. When it was time for box jumps those girls jumped up and down until their father moved onto the next exercise.

Those little eyes we don't always know are watching us do because WE, as parents are their true role models. Kids are sponges and the younger they are the more "sponge" like they are. I frequently get asked "Do your kids CrossFit?" All of my kids have experienced CrossFit in some form or another but I will save that for another post. My kids are active, they swim, cheer, dance, play rugby. They have after school sports and activities. Teach your kids now, that being healthy is the way to be!

My best wishes to all of you for a Healthy and Happy New Year 2010!

Build it and they will come.......do it and they will follow!

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