Extol Sports October 2017 | Page 44

TM st re ng t hing f a m ilie s f r o m w i t h i n POWERED BY FOUR BARREL FITNESS By Adam & Kristin Kleinert Fostering Individual Enthusiasm hen we began our journey to become a fitter family, we chose a cohesive approach to overall family health. This concept appealed to us not only due to the simplicity just one plan can be to implement, but also because we place such value in our time spent together. Thus far, the journey has been enlightening and even fun. But we are raising four different humans with four very different personalities. Keeping our tribe motivated to stay active means fostering each individual’s enthusiasm for movement. W We know our kids. We are hands-on parents and involved in every aspect of their lives. However, we thought it might be more fun – and enlightening – if we asked each of them their preferred way to be active. After all, kids change. They grow and adapt and are exposed to new ideas on an almost-daily basis. How better to foster motivation than to offer a current favorite when it comes to exercise? BRAHM, 7 Brahm was born 13 weeks premature and spent a couple of months in the NICU before coming home after birth. Combine that with the fact that he’s the youngest of the brood, and you can probably deduce that we go a little easy on him. We didn’t sign him up for sports as early as we did the others, and we’ve been a little overly excited about each physical milestone he’s met and most 42 EXTOL SPORTS / OCTOBER 2017 Some days Brahm would rather work on the ballfield instead of play on it...and that’s ok. likely a little too worried about the asthma he’s developed. Despite our parenting precautions, Brahm is an active little guy and you’d rarely find him holding still. He’d rather be outside than in, and spends as many daylight hours as possible riding, digging, building, running, etc. When we asked Brahm what is his favorite way to exercise, he wrinkled his nose and replied, “Um, I guess...push-ups.” After giggling at this a bit (because, really? who loves push-ups?), we explained to him that exercise can be anytime he is moving and maybe even sweaty. He responded much more enthusiastically, “I like working on stuff outside. That gets me sweaty. And I like to swim.” MOLLY, 9 Molly is definitely our least active kiddo, though she’s far from sedentary. Remember when I mentioned how kids change and grow? That’s Molly. She reinvents herself regularly and her interests vary accordingly. She’s tried several different sports, but usually loses interest after a time. (We’ve learned she often comes back around, so we do hang onto equipment and athletic gear.) Recently, Molly surprised us by announcing that she planned to join the cross-country team at school. Since she has never enjoyed running, we weren’t sure if she understood just what “cross country” means. When we asked her, she simply rolled her eyes. “I know what it is, Mom. It’s running. Like, running far.” Our next order of business was to see if she could complete a mile without stopping. She surprised us again by going out and doing just that with Dad jogging alongside. Finally, we agreed to look into the logistics of her actually joining the team. (Fourth graders are allowed to run with the older kids at our school, but there is technically no team for Molly’s grade level.) In the end, Molly wasn’t able to run on the team this season. Which brings us to the biggest surprise of all: She’s still