My little girl has been on me for 2 weeks to “take her running like daddy does”. Had to wait for her latest cold to clear up (ahh, the joys of kindergarten), and finally took her last weekend. We ran about a half mile around the neighborhood. Her pacing needs a bit of work- sprint, slow, sprint, slow… Since age 3, she’s been joining in when I do push-ups and pull-ups. I help her w/ the pull-ups, but not a whole lot anymore.
I love giving my child the gift of activity. I can’t wait to be the nut job dad screaming for her in whatever she participates in!
My kid is only 18mos, but its pretty fun to have them just chase you around. Since their legs are so small, you can get them huffin and puffin in your house. I’m sure that your daughter is more nimble than my son, but I’d bet that you can give her a workout in your kitchen. Keep it fun is probably the best message.
It is absolutely the best when the little ones start seeing the things that you do as normal and want to participate. Take pictures and enjoy the moments.
he asks to go running with me. We run about 1/4 mile or so (around the block) at his pace…I try to tell him not to run too fast (but he likes to go), but basically l let him do what he wants…then we come home, he drinks water out of a water bottle and I go off on my run…makes him feel good. he actually woke me up once at 5:30 am and said “lets go running”…I said go back to bed.
Lower training wheels on her bike until the rear wheel is off the floor, and instant trainer. My son will jump on and ride ~ 5 minutes with me until he get board, but it is fun.
Enjoy it, don’t push her and show them this is a good, normal lifestyle…if they like it, they will keep up with it.
He should be squatting heavy, deadlifting like an animal and running 80k a week. Not sure a 5 yo could handle much more than that.
Get him out of bed early, drag him to the track and make him do 400s till he can’t move. It will build mental toughness and make him hard. In time he will thank you.
Awesome. By “he”, are you referring to my as yet unborn son who is at 39.5 weeks gestation? That little punk needs to develop some quad power and squat thrust his way into the world pronto!
She? Even better. Her relative advantage due to her sex is huge. Her hardening journey must begin immediately. Perhaps start by teaching her the spirit of the bayonet.
Remember:
“We must remember that one man is much the same as another, and that he is best who is trained in the severest school.”
Thucydides
Perhaps go easy on the squatting though - she will need to find a husband one day.
I’m thinking finger paint repeats focusing on high elbows for developing a good catch and flexibility.
LOL!
Seriously - get her swimming - she’ll enjoy it, it’s a basic survival skill, it’ll let you have fun at the beach and lakes and stuff, and should she ever wish to compete, swimmers pretty much always start really early.
We do not have kids, but kids want to be like parents or sibilings. And this is just my thoughts as I pass time as it warms a few degrees so I can go ride since I have the morning off.
Not going to chime in on what children should be doing, but now 32 year old sister is ten 10 younger than me and 12 years younger than my brother. She was a fit kid with a runner sister and brother that wrestled. Not sure if all was good, but she often ran my cool down miles with me on the track in sub 9:00. She was faster than some of the distance kids on the track team. Little sis could also do push ups and sit ups and probably could take down any kids in her pre and elementary school.
Even at 15, I was smart enough not to let her run more and our parents wouldn’t let her do that much. Little sis also picked up on what my brother and I would eat which sometimes was not enough. My track team though she was so cool cause she could run a mile which just encouraged her to do more.
Training plan? Anything that’s fun for her. Take her to a playground and let her run her a$$ off. She’ll probably give you more of a workout.
You should see my 5 y/o daughter imitate me doing planks. She looks like she’s interpretive dancing. One thing to be careful of is to not force them to do things. That’ll just turn them off to it. My daughter recently quit ballet because she prefers to take it easy on weekends. I tried to convince my wife that encouraging her to stick with it will enforce some kind of discipline, but my daughter made up her mind. She had fun, but got tired quickly and complained of painful feet. She prefers to make up her own “Hannah Montana” moves right in our living room. We’ll try again in a year or so, perhaps gymnastics, just like her Mommy, or Tae Kwon Do like her Daddy. She’ll need the 'Do to beat down the guys when she’s a teen.
Whatever you do DO NOT become one of those overbearing “little league” parents who scream at their kids for getting a strike, dropping a ball, running to the opposing team’s goal, or riding the opposite direction on a velodrome. That’s just creepy.
Involve her in as many sports as you can stand. You never know which one
they’re going to like. At 5, soccer, gymnastics and tennis are all possibilities.
Depend on your area golf might also be available if you want to get them
into games instead of sports.
So is T-ball, but that was more than I could stand.
But, and it’s a big BUT make sure you ask this question after each session:
Did you have fun?
Other than that, stay away and don’t comment or criticize. I often find
it’s best if I’m about 100m away so I can cuss and complain but no
one else can hear me be frustrated.
I have also recently added:
Did you run hard?
As long as they’re trying hard and having fun, I’ve done my job. At least
so far my children are exhibiting my massive athletic potential. (i.e. non existant)
