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Start children exercising early to develop good habits |
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Written by Rocco Castellano
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Thursday, 05 July 2007 |
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 Q: Both my wife and I are former college athletes. In the mid ’90s, I rode the pine for several uneventful seasons in the Continental Basketball Association. We both continue to stay in good shape, mainly jogging, biking and lifting. Our two kids are 7 and 9 and they both want to be like mom and dad and want to exercise with us. With the obesity epidemic affecting children, how young is too young for them to start exercising and at what level or intensity? And don’t get me wrong, I’d much rather my kids become doctors or lawyers than professional athletes. It really took its toll on me.
— Jason
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A: I love these crazy myths that over the years have perpetuated into fact, even doctors believe them. Read this carefully… children can exercise at any age, especially running, jumping jacks, climbing ropes, fences, trees. For more than 30 years, doctors have said young children should not lift weights or it will stunt their growth. This is false and anyone that says this should be punched in the teeth. The truth is weight training such as squats, cleans, heavy bench pressing and Plyometric exercises damages the growth plates — if and only IF — the training leads to injury of the growth plates.
I recommend all parents do basic exercises with their children. Here are some suggestions: body weight squats, jumping jacks, pushups, negative pushups (go to www.askrocco.com to view a demonstration), mountain climbers, reach for the sky and arm circles. All these exercises will develop strength in your children’s joints and prevent them from getting injured and give you and them something to do together. Good luck. I wish more parents gave a shit about their children’s health.
And yes, I do think that most parents who let their kids get fat are either stupid or don’t care that their children will have a hard time in life both mentally and physically. Parents, it is up to you to keep your children from dying young.
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Rocco Castellano is the co-founder of askROCCO Media, which provides boot camps, seminars, media content and online fitness services at askROCCO.com. He is certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine and has written “askROCCO Uncensored v1” available at bookstores. Ask your personal
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