I don’t remember much about fitness as a kid. Because we didn’t’ call it that! We played games! We ran, jumped, fell, got up, learned all sorts of fine motor, & hand-eye coordination skills in the course of playing team games like tag, tetherball, basketball, field games, and hitting the tennis ball with your best friend. Thank goodness, I had parents who were members of the “Y” . Mom & Dad used to take us to the pool for Family night at the “Y” on Friday nights and my most vivid memories are of Dad tossing me into the air and then crashing into the water. Over and over again. “Do it again Dad!” You know, when you’re 4, this could go on all day. This early experience has translated to an agility for water sport & fitness. These were priceless moments. But I didn’t realize exactly how priceless until I reflected back on how this bonding experience in the context of playing, meant as a predictor of my future health & wellness.
As kids, we didn’t do adult fitness, like running on treadmills, lifting weights, or using recumbent bikes. We skated in winter at the local ice rink to check out who was there and the cutest boys. We hiked to the local beach to swim in the lake and hang out. We learned how to ride our bikes and roller skate so we could get around town. For an 8 year old, ‘around town’ meant more like 3 city blocks, but we had freedom, we had wheels! We spent hours on the teeter totter solving the worlds problems. Sometimes we snuck into the quarry at night to swim. Snuck is the operative work here. Kids need to sneak around…it’s a kid thing.
And sledding in Vollrath Bowl. C’mon, awesome. Getting the breath knocked out of you after being thrown from a saucer. Again, awesome! We liked to be outside. Fitness wasn’t called that to our little minds & bodies, we just wanted to “play”. We wanted to play and we wanted to play with other people. Laughing while you’re running turns running something else entirely. There was the occasional hike in the woods which I hated to do because it was soooo boring, but if you added a girlfriend or a bunch of crazy girls to the mix, the hike became something different. It was an adventure! This was the incentive and this is what motivated us to keep on doing these things. You see how it works? Fun, laughter, movement. Repeat. E voila, Fit happens.
We stayed healthy because we played! Not because we went to ballet class (ugh) or Tae kwon Do class. These kinds of activities provide motivation & reinforcement in other more constrained, adult-like ways, but nothing can replace the integrative and tenacious hold that laughter and play combined with physical action can have on lifelong fitness.
So why the alarming fitness ranking for Milwaukee and obesity level of her residents? Parents play a big part. If parents, or parent, aren’t physically active, statistics show, that the child has a greater danger of also being sedentary. We’ve depended so long on the public schools to provide the play outlet in the form of PE, or gym class. But how many of us liked gym class? Dodgeball? Give me a break! Dancing? OMG All those slimy boys hands I had to hold for square dancing, and most terrifying is being the last to be picked for teams sports. Horrifying. Put that together with movement and it’s a recipe for becoming a lifelong couch potato. Goodbye oatmeal, hello Type 2 diabetes. Today, these classes are in danger of being cut, and unless you already have an aptitude for team sports, it’s likely you won’t get moving. We cannot depend on the schools to keep our kids fit.
It’s about creating a new fitness paradigm that has more to do with play, and less to do with “exercise”.
Parents, Aunts, uncles, Grandparents…Move, Play, Learn! You’ll teach your kids to have fun while learning and getting fit. This is the key to lifelong fitness. Being this kind of role model is the gift that keeps on giving.
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