Family boot camp ISNT about the booty.

by

exercise bands

ahhh youth. BOTH of ours.

When The Child was tiny and more of a Tornado we moved our bods a lot together.

We did Mommy & me everything: yoga, hopscotch, belly dancing, regular dancing. You name it–we tried it.

And then she grew up a bit and we moved a LOT together: kickball, hula hoop, scooter, roller skates, Kangoo jumps. You name it–we tried it.

And then, having discovered a love of moving her body, she went off on her own.  Swimming, soccer, gymnastics — the list narrowed as she determined what she enjoyed and stuck with that.

As for me, I simply snagged movement when she wasn’t around.

She stayed healthy and fit. I remained healthy and fit. We no longer executed our ‘fit’ together and this was fine.

Until it wasn’t.

running dress

why YES. that IS a running dress!

I began to realize I was, indeed, practicing what I longed to preach when it came to healthy living, but if The Child wasn’t around to see me ‘practice’–did it really count?

In addition, even if she knew what I was doing (hellllo April marathon), if I didn’t give her the chance to see me struggle and persevere did it have an impact?

Enter the idea of group personal training.

Family personal training.

A family boot-camp style experience.

No one was more shocked than I that this was all my idea. I’d been a trainer. I knew I hated having a trainer. In addition, boot camp type set-ups spark me to rebel and do LESS than I’m capable of.

Still, I repeatedly returned to the fact we no longer moved together. I missed that and felt as though something was lacking.

I found a trainer, signed us up and what we gained in the process exceeded any hope or expectations I could have had.

We took turns playing expert.

I suck at weighted fitness ropes. The Child finds them pretty easy. She struggles with pushing upward and I’m really good at push-ups these days. I hold no illusions about our trio. If we all were challenged by the same exercises then shared bitching and negativity would have brought us down. But we don’t. As a result, we each have a chance to offer tips, suggest form tweaks, and play the expert multiple times throughout the session.

box jumps

We were offered opportunities to encourage.

During one of our first sessions our trainer set up three stations. One station involved pulling a weighted sled across the gym. The caveat? The other 2 people had to remain at their stations ‘working’ until said sled station was complete.  Instead of growing grumpy (as we may have done in the past) we seized this set-up as an opportunity to cheer the sled’er on to success. Not only were we able to shout encouragement while box jumping and lunging (a fitness-feat in itself) the rallying behind each other lingered long after the workout was complete.

We rediscovered fun as a FAMILY.

For the past few years we’ve been fractured as a family. I knew I laughed a lot with The Child. I imagined The Husband had his share of giggles with her. Never, ever, ever did these two paths intersect.

It wasn’t in my plan we’d rediscover fun via family fitness, but we did.

Grapevines, jump rope to exhaustion, walking backward on treadmills—there’s laughter in all of it when you allow yourself to see it.

We allowed ourselves to see it.

hoka

We bonded through commiserating.

I saw this in my training clients all the time. I watched how some were brought down by their complaining while others were able to vent, release and move on. Heading into this experience our trio could have gone either way. We easily could have morphed into the group where one lamented, others followed, and it was a miserable experience for all involved. We did not.

I was happily surprised how, instead of growing group-negative, complaints were acknowledged/affirmed by another member of our trio which facilitated our bonding by bitching (<—technical term). As with the encouragement this bonding by bitching lingered long after the workout was complete.

There aren’t words enough to capture – – although I realize  I’ve used many of them– what a positive experience this has been for our family.

What started as something I assumed we’d do for only a few weeks has turned into something we look forward to and share the sentiment of hating to go and loving how we feel when finished.

And you?

  • Do you prioritize fitness as a family?
  • Are you as terrified of the high box jumps as I am?

POSTS BY EMAIL

Never miss a post. Enter your email to get my latest posts delivered to your inbox.

Comments

  1. What a great idea. You never talk about hubby much so I wasn’t sure if he was still there, so it’s good you’re doing things as a threesome rather than in pairs!

    And I love the enthusiasm!

  2. What a concept!! I love this so much and my husband and I do a lot of things the boys want to do – basketball…um, ok that’s pretty much it, but I stand on the sidelines and cheer, bring water, etc. Hopefully when they get a bit older we can try something like this because we would ALL love it!

  3. Carla I love this.
    Im like you and not at all a fan of boot camp setups.
    I love how you let your daughter lead. It’s a really good confidence builder.

  4. Getting kids involved in fitness alongside parents should be mandatory. Problemsolving, figuring out who is good at what, cheering each other on… these are moments that are so lacking in our sedentary lives.
    Plus, if you don’t know that she can do box jumps, who is going to get the box down from the highest shelf?

  5. This is awesome!! You are absolutely right about bonding through commiserating. I see it when I run with others. And yes, box jumps terrify me. I’ve seen what happens when you miss the box. YOUCH!!!!!!

  6. I had missed your post about the opportunities.
    I don’t know if I could convince the twins or my husband to do a Boot Camp, but I bet there are still opportunities everywhere.

  7. How fun! I did go to my son’s rugby conditioning this fall–which I thought was extraordinary considering that he’s 17! I was honored to be invited.

    When the boys were little, we did yoga together. That was a blast.

  8. We have gotten away from it a little bit as the boys’ sports schedules are pretty crazy. I love this idea and will try to find a way to make it work 🙂

  9. This is something i didn’t do enough of when my children were little, cheering them from the sidelines isn’t the same as doing fitness together and cheering each other.

  11. You guys are awesome Carla – we never did fitness as a family – we each did different things in different places and different times. I love how you are using this as a family bonding experience.

  12. As a former athlete who played on teams, I’ve struggled with fitness post high school and college. Perhaps a fitness family is exactly what I need! Thanks for this post.

  13. What a great idea! You seem to parent “intentionally” so well and most of us feel as if we’re just along for the ride so to speak. I always enjoy hearing what you’ve been up to.

  14. How very cool, positive and timely. When you do your marathon your cheerleaders know how much it took to prepare to even get to the starting line! High box jump, no way.

  19. Love this! I am thankful I am in good shape to play with the grandkids & especially that little 2 year old that wears me out BUT she knows I can chase & play with her! 🙂

  21. I love this! I love that you were willing to try something you didn’t expect to like. The closest we’ve come to this is when we all went to the rock climbing gym , with my son being the “expert.”

  22. How great this has been a positive experience for all of you. It sounds like a blast to me. Being a skating coach, I’ve had my girls on the ice since the beginning of time. One has gotten off to pursue other interests but we all still RUN! And laugh. A lot.

  24. What a great idea! This sounds like something I would do with my kids, lol. I recently took my daughter out of P.E. with a waiver (we live in Florida), with the exception that I would ensure she gets enough exercise at home. I love it because we can do things like yoga and meditation, the stuff they don’t typically teach in schools. This was a great post!

    ~Laurali Star

    P.S.

    Stopped by from S.I.T.S Girls to say hi!

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This