2302: [Part 2] How to Stay Active When You Have A Family by Steve Kamb of Nerd Fitness on Raising Healthy Children

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: This is Optimal Relationships Daily, How to Stay Active When You Have a Family, Part 2 by Steve Kamb of Nerd Fitness.com

[00:00:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Hello everybody. I am Greg Audino and welcome back to the podcast that's all about strengthening the many relationships in your life.

[00:00:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Today on OID as we might call it here in Rhode Island,

[00:00:20] [SPEAKER_00]: we are finishing up with part two of Steve Kamb's article. So if you are new here,

[00:00:26] [SPEAKER_00]: first of all, welcome. Welcome to the show. But also check out yesterday's episode first to hear part one.

[00:00:32] [SPEAKER_00]: And if you'd like to stay connected with the old family outside of these episodes, remember to sign up to our weekly newsletter at oldpodcast.com.

[00:00:40] [SPEAKER_00]: But for now, let's jump into part two of Steve's great content and continue optimizing your life.

[00:00:50] [SPEAKER_00]: How to Stay Active When You Have a Family, Part 2 by Steve Kamb of Nerd Fitness.com.

[00:00:57] [SPEAKER_00]: A continuation from part one on exercising anytime, anywhere.

[00:01:02] [SPEAKER_00]: My favorite response. Now admittedly, I don't have any children. Heck, I don't even have an imaginary girlfriend.

[00:01:09] [SPEAKER_00]: But I do have a giant family of about

[00:01:11] [SPEAKER_00]: 197,000 nerds, many of whom do have families. So last week we asked the nerd fitness community

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_00]: how do you stay active with your family? We had a ton of great responses which we'll get to shortly.

[00:01:24] [SPEAKER_00]: I wanted to share with you my favorite response from Haiku,

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_00]: who explains that staying active can be incredibly easy when the family doesn't realize it's exercise.

[00:01:34] [SPEAKER_00]: We tend to have the most success when they don't realize it's exercise.

[00:01:39] [SPEAKER_00]: We go to the park and kick around the soccer balls or shoot hoops.

[00:01:42] [SPEAKER_00]: They love to fly kites. If you go on a not terribly windy day,

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_00]: the only way they can get their kite to fly is run. They don't even realize they're wearing themselves out.

[00:01:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Hikes are great as well as swimming, anything disguised as a game.

[00:01:55] [SPEAKER_00]: They also love to ride their bikes or get into little challenges at home on the living room floor.

[00:01:59] [SPEAKER_00]: I can do X amount of push-ups. How many can you do?

[00:02:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I love this answer as it really reinforces the need to look at fitness as something other than fitness.

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_00]: You're not exercising to lose weight or because you should exercise,

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_00]: but because you're having fun and challenging yourself in a way that doesn't feel like exercise.

[00:02:16] [SPEAKER_00]: I find that I have the most success with improving my health and physique when my goals are focused completely on something other than my health and physique.

[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Some more tips from the rebellion.

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Along with those great responses, our awesome community answered the call and provided tons of excellent insight and experience.

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Remember, we're all in this together.

[00:02:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Don't feel like you need to reinvent the wheel when you have your fellow rebels fighting the same battle alongside you.

[00:02:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Here are some of our favorite responses.

[00:02:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Stefan used technology and gamification to his advantage.

[00:02:49] [SPEAKER_00]: We tried geocaching this weekend in a large forest with hills.

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Seems like a great form of family exercise. Our kids at four and six loved it.

[00:02:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Chris has found a way to incorporate his six-year-old daughter into his workouts.

[00:03:01] [SPEAKER_00]: My six-year-old daughter and I do things together.

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_00]: She rounds up us adults for walks and we've done daddy-daughter kettlebell workouts together.

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_00]: My tip is to include them in what I'm doing.

[00:03:10] [SPEAKER_00]: If your little ones have a passion or want to be just like you, let them. Sure,

[00:03:15] [SPEAKER_00]: they might not be able to keep up or have great form,

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_00]: but it's our job to show them that it's fun and encourage them to start these healthy habits early.

[00:03:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Atska Schmidt instilled the love of exercise early.

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_00]: My two-and-a-half-year-old loves doing a little circuit of running and push-ups in the backyard. My five-week-old, not so much though.

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Diana reminds us that this doesn't have to be complicated.

[00:03:37] [SPEAKER_00]: My dad and I used to cut wood and move for the open fire together.

[00:03:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Short Gorilla has instilled a love for exercise.

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_00]: My kids like to do push-ups and sit-ups and stuff with me, and they'll watch me lift in the basement sometimes.

[00:03:50] [SPEAKER_00]: They like to do bodyweight exercises and run with me for treasure coins.

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_00]: We try to teach them that exercise is fun and rewarding. The kids will do a combination of squats, burpees, sit-ups, push-ups,

[00:04:00] [SPEAKER_00]: jumping jacks, and mountain climbers. My four-year-old likes to pretend to clean and press too.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Bari prefers a more formal route to stay connected with his family. My siblings and I do 5ks together, even though we live in different cities.

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_00]: At Josh underscore Crocker turns everything into a game.

[00:04:16] [SPEAKER_00]: We have young children and make all of it a playful game. Family walks, tag, hide-and-seek.

[00:04:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Ryev recognizes the wisdom of not forcing activities you don't find enjoyable. I have a teenage daughter as well.

[00:04:29] [SPEAKER_00]: She doesn't really care about exercising, but this coming weekend

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_00]: we're driving to a good hiking spot so we can all hike to the waterfalls. Where she doesn't care about exercising,

[00:04:38] [SPEAKER_00]: she loves the outdoors.

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_00]: So we do things outdoors where she can get moving and get the heart rate up in a way she finds fun,

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_00]: so she doesn't even realize dear old dad is making her exercise.

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Hiking, exploring, climbing, swimming. These are the things I do with her.

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Healthy families are strong families. I want to leave you with one final thought.

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_00]: You're a superhero to your family, whether you realize it or not.

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_00]: You are your kids or your partner's biggest hero. It's time to decide what kind of superpower you have. Is it super strength?

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Lightning-fast reflexes or the ability to sit on the couch and watch TV for hours on end?

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_00]: How you act will determine the health and habits your family builds too.

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_00]: They will do what you do, not what you say to do. If we can instill the habit of health,

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_00]: fitness and happiness in ourselves, our families are more likely to grow up healthy and

[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_00]: not deal with the health issues that come with being overweight and out of shape.

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_00]: You just listened to part two of the post titled,

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_00]: How to stay active when you have a family by Steve Kamm of Nerdfitness.com and I'll be back shortly with my comments.

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks again to Steve for allowing us to read this wonderful essay. Key stuff here and great feedback from his readers.

[00:05:55] [SPEAKER_00]: As that Chris character mentioned so wonderfully, it is as much about the bond and the inclusion as it is the exercise itself.

[00:06:01] [SPEAKER_00]: So a big takeaway from another viewer is that it shouldn't feel like exercise and that goes for the parents too.

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Getting your kids healthier need not be seen as an obligation for you as a parent,

[00:06:14] [SPEAKER_00]: but instead just another way to strengthen your bond with your children.

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_00]: So with that let's sign off on today's episode. Thank you so much for joining me here once again.

[00:06:24] [SPEAKER_00]: I will be back tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.