Latest / Faithful Fitness With Coach Alex VanHouten / Raise Kids Who Move: Building a Family Culture of Fitness | Faithful Family Pt. 1

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Raise Kids Who Move: Building a Family Culture of Fitness | Faithful Family Pt. 1 · Faithful Fitness With Coach Alex VanHouten

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  Speaker 1: Hey Faithful, welcome to the Faithful Fitness Podcast. In a moment,
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  Speaker 1: my dad, Coach Alex Van Houten, will help you honor
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  Speaker 1: God by making the most out of the body God's
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  Speaker 1: given you. Today you can expect truth from the Bible,
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  Speaker 1: tools from science, and guidance for everyday life. So listen
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  Speaker 1: close and get ready. Let's get 1% better today.
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  Speaker 2: What do your kids think about what adults do with
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  Speaker 2: their bodies? Seriously. When your kids picture what it means
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  Speaker 2: to grow up, what do they think happens? Do adults move?
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  Speaker 2: Do they run? Do they play? Do they lift heavy things?
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  Speaker 2: Do they go outside? Do they challenge themselves physically? Or
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  Speaker 2: in your kids' eyes, do adults mostly just sit down,
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  Speaker 2: stare at screens, complain about how tired they are, and
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  Speaker 2: occasionally announce that they really need to start working out again?
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  Speaker 2: Because whether we realize it or not, Our kids are
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  Speaker 2: developing their definition of normal by watching us. And that's
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  Speaker 2: what I want to talk about today. This is the
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  Speaker 2: first episode in a four-part Faithful Fitness series about parenting
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  Speaker 2: and health. We're going to talk about physical activity and
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  Speaker 2: exercise today. Next, we'll talk about food and nutrition. Then, sleep, stress, screens,
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  Speaker 2: and recovery. And finally, we'll talk about spiritual fitness. and
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  Speaker 2: what it means to raise children who understand that their bodies,
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  Speaker 2: and really their entire lives, belong to God. And I
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  Speaker 2: want to establish something right out of the gate. I
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  Speaker 2: don't think our children need better workout programs. Most of
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  Speaker 2: them don't need a workout program at all, actually. They
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  Speaker 2: need active families. They need homes where movement is normal,
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  Speaker 2: where bodies are used, and where strength is appreciated, and
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  Speaker 2: outside isn't a punishment. Where getting sweaty doesn't automatically require
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  Speaker 2: a uniform or a coach or a tournament or even
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  Speaker 2: a monthly fee. And maybe most importantly, they need moms
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  Speaker 2: and dads who actually live that way. I was playing
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  Speaker 2: at the trampoline park with my kids recently and I
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  Speaker 2: got into the dodgeball pit and I started jumping around
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  Speaker 2: and throwing balls at kids and ducking and diving and
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  Speaker 2: having a good time. And before I knew it, just
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  Speaker 2: me and my boys turned into a game of 30
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  Speaker 2: kids playing dodgeball. and I was the only adult playing.
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  Speaker 2: When it came time for us to go home, I said,
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  Speaker 2: hey guys, it was a lot of fun playing with y'all.
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  Speaker 2: I high-fived everybody and said, I'll see you later, and
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  Speaker 2: I left. My boys and I got to the door,
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  Speaker 2: and I looked over at the dodgeball pit, and not
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  Speaker 2: only had no dads replaced me in the dodgeball pit,
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  Speaker 2: but the game of 30 that was so much fun
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  Speaker 2: had disappeared completely, and as we were walking through the
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  Speaker 2: parking lot, my oldest son looked at me and said,
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  Speaker 2: hey dad, Thanks so much for being an active dad.
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  Speaker 2: I had a lot of fun playing with you. Sometimes
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  Speaker 2: I think we make childhood fitness way too complicated. Adults
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  Speaker 2: hear the word fitness and immediately start thinking about programs.
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  Speaker 2: Sets and reps and heart rate zones, calories, weight loss, macros,
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  Speaker 2: and training splits. That's adult fitness culture. And it's not bad.
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  Speaker 2: It's actually the way that we make the most of
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  Speaker 2: our training time so that we can get great results
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  Speaker 2: even though we don't have a whole bunch of time
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  Speaker 2: to train. But kids don't naturally think that way. If
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  Speaker 2: you give a bunch of kids a field and a
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  Speaker 2: creek and some bikes, maybe a basketball or even a
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  Speaker 2: pile of dirt, sometimes a tree and just enough room
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  Speaker 2: to chase each other around, they'll often create physical activity
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  Speaker 2: all by themselves. Kids run. They climb. They jump. They wrestle.
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  Speaker 2: They carry things. They throw things. They explore. They balance.
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  Speaker 2: They fall down. They get back up. And those things
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  Speaker 2: might not look like a workout on your Apple Watch,
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  Speaker 2: but they're incredibly important. At its core, Fitness for children
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  Speaker 2: looks like learning how to inhabit a body. They're developing
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  Speaker 2: coordination and strength and balance. They're developing confidence and spatial awareness.
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  Speaker 2: And they're learning things like, can I climb that? Can
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  Speaker 2: I carry that? Can I run that far? Can I
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  Speaker 2: figure this out? Can I keep going? That's bigger than exercise.
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  Speaker 2: That's physical competence. And I think one of the gifts
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  Speaker 2: that we can give our children is confidence in what
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  Speaker 2: their bodies are capable of doing. Not confidence because they
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  Speaker 2: look a certain way, but confidence because they know, hey,
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  Speaker 2: my body works. My body does what I tell it to.
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  Speaker 2: I can learn. I can get stronger. I can do
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  Speaker 2: hard things. Those are powerful lessons for a child. But
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  Speaker 2: here's where I think where modern parenting gets a little sideways.
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  Speaker 2: We've outsourced a lot of children's physical development. My kid
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  Speaker 2: plays baseball. My daughter plays soccer. They've got P.E.
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  Speaker 1: At school.
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  Speaker 2: They do gymnastics or martial arts. Great. I'm a huge
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  Speaker 2: fan of sports, and I'm a huge fan of coaches,
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  Speaker 2: and I'm a huge fan of kids learning athletic skills.
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  Speaker 2: But putting your kid in soccer twice a week doesn't
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  Speaker 2: automatically create an active child. And it definitely doesn't create
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  Speaker 2: an active family. There's a difference. A child can play
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  Speaker 2: three sports and still believe that movement is something that
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  Speaker 2: you only do when someone else blows a whistle. What
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  Speaker 2: happens during the rest of their life? Do they walk anywhere?
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  Speaker 2: Do we play together? Do we go outside? Do we hike?
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  Speaker 2: Do we ride bikes? Do the kids see mom exercise?
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  Speaker 2: Do the kids see dad lift weights? Do they help
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  Speaker 2: carry things? Do they work in the yard? Do they
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  Speaker 2: have opportunities to physically interact with the world? Because sports
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  Speaker 2: are just one expression of movement, but they shouldn't be
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  Speaker 2: the only one. And if you're listening to this thinking, Alex,
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  Speaker 2: we aren't an athletic family. Good. You don't need to be.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not telling you that everybody needs to sign up
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  Speaker 2: for a 10K. I'm saying maybe after dinner, learning how
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  Speaker 2: to take a walk around the neighborhood with your family
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  Speaker 2: could be very powerful for your household. Maybe Saturday you
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  Speaker 2: go explore a trail. Maybe you throw a football. Maybe
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  Speaker 2: you shoot hoops, even badly. Maybe you garden. Maybe you
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  Speaker 2: chase your kids. Maybe they help you move some mulch.
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  Speaker 2: Maybe you swim. Maybe you go fishing and hike down
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  Speaker 2: to the water. Maybe you put on some music and
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  Speaker 2: do what we do. The Mortal Kombat soundtrack and Nerf
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  Speaker 2: guns in the living room. Sure, the activity of all
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  Speaker 2: this matters, but I want you to hear something. The
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  Speaker 2: culture of your household actually matters more. The message is,
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  Speaker 2: in this family, we use our bodies to do amazing, fun,
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  Speaker 2: and productive things. And here's the part parents don't always like.
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  Speaker 2: Our children are watching what we do far more carefully
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  Speaker 2: than they're listening to what we say. Think about the
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  Speaker 2: language they hear around exercise. Ugh, I hate working out.
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  Speaker 2: Oh man, I gotta work hard and lose this belly.
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  Speaker 2: I've been so bad this week, I haven't made it
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  Speaker 2: to the gym once. I ate too much, so now
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  Speaker 2: I gotta go burn it off. Or, I'm too old
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  Speaker 2: for that. Or worse, I don't have time to exercise.
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  Speaker 2: Maybe later. What does a kid actually hear? They hear
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  Speaker 2: that movement is punishment. That exercise is what adults do
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  Speaker 2: when they're dissatisfied with themselves. That fitness is mostly about
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  Speaker 2: looking better. And eventually, adulthood means that you stop playing.
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  Speaker 2: Now compare that with hearing something like, Man, I feel
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  Speaker 2: so much better when I move. Dang, I've been sitting
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  Speaker 2: all day. It's time to go outside. I want to
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  Speaker 2: stay strong. Hey, will you come play with me? Well,
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  Speaker 2: if you're really getting into it, How about, let's see
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  Speaker 2: if we can go climb that hill together. Or man,
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  Speaker 2: check it out, I couldn't do this six months ago,
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  Speaker 2: but I've been practicing and I'm getting better at it.
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  Speaker 2: Those are very different messages. Your child isn't just watching
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  Speaker 2: you exercise, they're learning what exercise means. And I want
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  Speaker 2: you to think about that. What explanation are we giving
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  Speaker 2: our children for why adults train? Because if the entire
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  Speaker 2: explanation is vanity, we shouldn't be surprised when they become
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  Speaker 2: obsessed with appearance. Or, if the entire explanation is weight loss,
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  Speaker 2: we shouldn't be surprised when they start believing that thinner
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  Speaker 2: always means healthier. Or, if the entire explanation is punishment
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  Speaker 2: for eating, we shouldn't be surprised when they develop a
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  Speaker 2: strange relationship with both food and movement. There has to
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  Speaker 2: be a better reason. And there is. We train because
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  Speaker 2: our bodies are gifts. We train because capacity is useful.
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  Speaker 2: We train because strength allows us to do things We
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  Speaker 2: train because we want energy to play with our children.
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  Speaker 2: We train because we want to serve. We train because
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  Speaker 2: we want to work. We train because adventure is easier
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  Speaker 2: when your body's prepared for it and a lot more
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  Speaker 2: fun too. And we train because stewardship means caring for
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  Speaker 2: the body that God's entrusted to us. That's a much
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  Speaker 2: bigger and a much healthier vision of exercise for our kids.
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  Speaker 2: So along those lines, I want parents to be very
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  Speaker 2: careful about turning exercise into some sort of punishment, especially
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  Speaker 2: with little kids. You messed up. Give me 20 push-ups. Man,
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  Speaker 2: you ate too much. You need to go for a run.
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  Speaker 2: Or we had pizza last night, so we've got to
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  Speaker 2: go burn it off now. I don't love any of that. Now,
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  Speaker 2: I will say, especially for boys, physical effort can absolutely
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  Speaker 2: teach discipline. And I believe children should learn to do
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  Speaker 2: difficult physical things. That means that they should learn that
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  Speaker 2: sometimes you have to finish what you start, even when
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  Speaker 2: it's hard and you don't want to. They should definitely
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  Speaker 2: understand effort, and they should understand sweat, too. They should
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  Speaker 2: occasionally have to be uncomfortable. But that's not the same
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  Speaker 2: thing as teaching them that movement is punishment. For me,
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  Speaker 2: I want my kids to associate strength with capability. I
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  Speaker 2: want them to associate movement with adventure. And I want
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  Speaker 2: them to associate training with becoming more useful. Now my
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  Speaker 2: body's been bad and now I have to go punish it.
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  Speaker 2: That's a toxic loop that a lot of adults are
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  Speaker 2: trying to escape right now. And we definitely don't need
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  Speaker 2: to hand it to the next generation. In my household,
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  Speaker 2: I use exercise as a part of the disciplinary process
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  Speaker 2: for my boys. But it's not just, hey, you disobeyed
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  Speaker 2: your mom, you owe me 20 push-ups. Or don't tell
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  Speaker 2: your brother to shut up, you owe me a run
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  Speaker 2: around the block. It's more like, hey, you seem like
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  Speaker 2: you have a lot of energy and nothing to do
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  Speaker 2: with it, let's do some squats. And then after our
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  Speaker 2: squat set, say something like, is there anything else you'd
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  Speaker 2: like to be doing? Or do you want to keep
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  Speaker 2: this workout up? Or my personal favorite, the brick carry.
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  Speaker 2: This was particularly useful to teach my boys how to
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  Speaker 2: not speak disrespectfully to their mom. I have a pile
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  Speaker 2: of 10 bricks on one side of the yard. And
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  Speaker 2: when I heard something out of their mouth I didn't like,
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  Speaker 2: I'd say, hey, you owe me 10 bricks. And while
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  Speaker 2: you're out there, I want you to think about what
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  Speaker 2: you just said and how you can do it different.
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  Speaker 2: After they moved the 10 bricks from one side of
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  Speaker 2: the yard to the other, they'd come back inside, whether
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  Speaker 2: it was hot or cold. And I'd say, okay, what
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  Speaker 2: did you say to your mom? And how can we
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  Speaker 2: say that better next time? Now you might say, hey coach,
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  Speaker 2: that sounds a lot like punishment to me. And what
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  Speaker 2: I would tell you is that exercise is a very
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  Speaker 2: important arena for me to think through difficult things. And
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  Speaker 2: learning how to speak respectfully to their mom is a
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  Speaker 2: difficult thing that my boys have to think through. And
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  Speaker 2: so I'm showing them a pattern that they can use
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  Speaker 2: later in their lives when they come up against something
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  Speaker 2: difficult that they know is wrong, but they're not really
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  Speaker 2: sure why. And so they can address it by getting
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  Speaker 2: into a mode of activity that allows them to think
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  Speaker 2: more clearly. And by the end of their session, they've
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  Speaker 2: got some answers they can move on. Primary difference between
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  Speaker 2: using exercise as punishment or as an integral part of
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  Speaker 2: powerful discipline for our bodies. is the intention of it.
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  Speaker 2: Stay intentional and you won't wade into destructive territory. Now
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  Speaker 2: let me touch on something else briefly because parents ask
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  Speaker 2: about it all the time. Should kids lift weights? There
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  Speaker 2: was an idea for a long time that strength training
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  Speaker 2: would stunt a child's growth. That's not a good reason
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  Speaker 2: to keep children away from resistance training. Appropriately coached strength
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  Speaker 2: training can actually be a very good thing for kids.
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  Speaker 2: But here's the important part. We're not trying to turn
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  Speaker 2: a 10-year-old into a miniature bodybuilder. We're teaching skills. Can
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  Speaker 2: you squat? Can you hinge? Can you push? Can you pull?
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  Speaker 2: Can you brace? Can you control your body? Can you
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  Speaker 2: safely move resistance? And finally, can you progressively learn what
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  Speaker 2: you're capable of? Bodyweight exercises, bands, medicine balls, even light
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  Speaker 2: dumbbells and barbells can be appropriate for kids who are
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  Speaker 2: ready and properly supervised. Those all have their place. But
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  Speaker 2: technique matters. and maturity matters, and supervision matters. And the
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  Speaker 2: goals of weight training with kids is to teach fundamentals
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  Speaker 2: and personal competence, not chasing one rep max or muscle
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  Speaker 2: growth so dad can brag about it on Instagram. Remember,
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  Speaker 2: our exercise practice is not about creating impressive children. We're
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  Speaker 2: trying to help children become capable adults. My boys are
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  Speaker 2: 11 and seven, and ever since they were old enough
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  Speaker 2: to be curious about what dad was up to, they've
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  Speaker 2: picked up kettlebells and dumbbells and barbells and made up
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  Speaker 2: all kinds of fun exercises all by themselves. My job
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  Speaker 2: when they were really little Just make sure they didn't
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  Speaker 2: hurt themselves. Unlike a 40-year-old dad. The most dangerous thing
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  Speaker 2: a child's going to face in the weight room is gravity.
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  Speaker 2: As they grew up, my supervision turned from making sure
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  Speaker 2: they weren't going to fall on their head or drop
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  Speaker 2: a weight on their toes to stepping in every once
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  Speaker 2: in a while and saying, oh, that's a great exercise
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  Speaker 2: for your back. Or, oh, that's a great exercise for
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  Speaker 2: your legs. Or, hey, if you're going to do that,
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  Speaker 2: I want you to lighten the weight just a little
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  Speaker 2: bit and push straight over your head, not in front
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  Speaker 2: of your face. As of the time of this recording,
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  Speaker 2: my 11-year-old still hasn't executed what someone might call a
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  Speaker 2: traditional strength training session. He's joined me in the gym,
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  Speaker 2: written his own workouts with leg lifts and push-ups and
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  Speaker 2: pull-ups and sprints, and while I expect puberty will find
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  Speaker 2: a change in that soon, that focus for his weight
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  Speaker 2: training program, confidence, intensity, safety, fun, that's exactly right for
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  Speaker 2: his age. And while we're talking about this, here's a
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  Speaker 2: note for you parents. It's okay to let your kids
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  Speaker 2: be bad at physical things. Please. Some kid is going
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  Speaker 2: to be the slowest kid on the team. Some kid
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  Speaker 2: can't catch yet. Some can't climb the rope. Some aren't
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  Speaker 2: naturally coordinated. that doesn't mean that they can't be athletic.
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  Speaker 2: And it definitely doesn't mean that movement isn't for them.
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  Speaker 2: One of the worst things we can do is accidentally
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  Speaker 2: teach a child, oh, I'm not good at sports, therefore
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  Speaker 2: I'm not a physical person. That's just not true, and
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  Speaker 2: it's not healthy. Sports performance is one very narrow expression
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  Speaker 2: of physical ability. Maybe your kid isn't a natural at baseball,
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  Speaker 2: but loves hiking. Maybe your kid hates running, but loves
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  Speaker 2: to lift. Maybe your kid's not coordinated with a ball,
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  Speaker 2: but they're extremely strong. They might love martial arts. They
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  Speaker 2: might love swimming. Maybe they don't care about competition at all,
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  Speaker 2: but will walk five miles through the woods looking for bugs. Fantastic.
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  Speaker 2: We're trying to help them find the thing that they
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  Speaker 2: enjoy while being embodied human beings. not to force everyone
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: into the same mold. And if nobody did that for
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  Speaker 2: you when you were a kid, kudos for letting that
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  Speaker 2: cycle stop with you. And may you be blessed in
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  Speaker 2: your journey to find what you enjoy in an embodied way.
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  Speaker 2: And this is where I want to challenge parents who
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  Speaker 2: are feeling a bit overwhelmed right now. You might be
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  Speaker 2: listening thinking, hey, great, Alex, one more thing I'm bailing at.
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  Speaker 2: Please hear me. That's not what I'm saying. I actually
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: want to remove something from your list. Family fitness does
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  Speaker 2: not have to become another organized activity. Over time, It
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  Speaker 2: can just become a part of how your family lives.
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  Speaker 2: What if you parked further away on purpose and your
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  Speaker 2: family walked instead of drove sometimes? What if you took
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: the stairs? What if chores around the house on a
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: Saturday became working outside together? What if when there was downtime,
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: you might play catch or go explore something? Maybe your
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: kids learned that they carry their own stuff. I know
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: as a young dad, taking good care of my own
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: body sometimes felt like taking time away from my family.
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  Speaker 2: But when I turned the music up and invited the
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: kids outside with me, they didn't exactly do my workout.
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  Speaker 2: But we were there together, and it was just a
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  Speaker 2: part of our day. There are all kinds of little
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  Speaker 2: moments when we're making a decision about whether the default
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  Speaker 2: will be convenience or activity. And convenience isn't sinful. Rest
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  Speaker 2: isn't laziness. And watching a movie together is great. We
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  Speaker 2: like doing that about every Friday around here. And I'm
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  Speaker 2: not arguing that healthy families must constantly be moving. But
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  Speaker 2: I am arguing against passivity becoming the default. in the
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  Speaker 2: setting of the home. There's a huge difference. Okay, coach,
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  Speaker 2: I hear you. How much exercise should we be doing then?
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  Speaker 2: We parents love numbers, huh? How many minutes should my
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  Speaker 2: kid be exercising? How many steps should we be getting?
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  Speaker 2: How many sports should we be playing? Okay, okay, how
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: often should we lift? Those questions can be useful, but
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  Speaker 2: I think there's an even better question here, and that's this.
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  Speaker 2: What kind of relationship with movement Are we helping our
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  Speaker 2: children develop? Because eventually in their lives, you won't be
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: standing there telling them what to do. And they won't
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  Speaker 2: be watching you to figure out how things should be anymore.
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  Speaker 2: You're not going to make them go outside when they're 28.
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  Speaker 2: You won't be packing their gym bag. You won't be
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  Speaker 2: signing the permission slip. Eventually, they'll decide. And what we're
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  Speaker 2: building now is the internal definition. that they'll carry with them.
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  Speaker 2: I do consultations all the time with grown adults and
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: I love asking them what exercise looked like when they
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: were growing up. Outside of talking about a few sports
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: and stuff, they never really tell me what they did.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: They'll either say, Well, we were just a really active family.
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: My dad always worked out and ran races, or my
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: mom always lifted, or she was really into Jane Fonda,
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: or whatever it is. Or they'll say something like, I
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: don't really remember doing active things growing up. I remember
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: there was always a reason why we couldn't be active.
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: Maybe they were working all the time, or maybe there
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: were some chronic illnesses that prevented them. But now I'm
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: trying to do better for myself and my household. And
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: if your kids still live under your roof, that's something
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: that you can develop right now. Is movement a chore?
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: Is it a punishment? Is it just something that athletes do?
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: Is it just something that young people do? Is it
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: something you do only when you're unhappy with your body?
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: Or is it simply part of taking care of yourself?
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: Is it part of being alive? Is it part of stewardship?
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: Is it part of your joy? That's what we're really teaching.
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: So let's return with the question that I started with.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: When your children watch you, what do they think adulthood
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: looks like? I don't ask this to make you feel guilty.
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: I ask because you have an incredible opportunity right now.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: You don't need to be an elite athlete. You don't
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: need six pack abs. You don't need a perfect training program.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: Your children don't need to see perfection from you. They
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: need to see participation. They need to see mom take
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: care of herself. They need to see dad do difficult things.
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: They need to see that being tired isn't always a
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: reason to quit. They need to see that rest has
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: a place and that effort has a place. They need
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: to see adults who are grateful for their bodies instead
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: of constantly criticizing them. They need to experience physical challenge
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: and laughter and adventure and work and play. And that's
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: how a family culture develops. Not from a lecture, but
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: from regular repetitions. And maybe you're not a parent. Maybe
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: you're a grandparent listening to this. And your kids have
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: grown up and moved out. In some ways, I want
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: you to know that your challenge is even more powerful
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: than a parent's. Because not only do you have an
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: opportunity to set an example for your kids, but you
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: get to show your grandkids, in stark contrast with the
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: way the rest of the world often does things, that
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: just because you're aging, doesn't mean you have to fall apart.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: And every grandparent I have ever trained would tell you
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: that their grandkids are probably even more motivation and inspiration
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: than their own kids were to taking care of this
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: body in a season where it would otherwise fall apart.
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: So here's what I want you to do this week.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: Do one physically active thing together that isn't primarily about exercise.
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: Don't call it cardio. Don't count calories. Don't obsess over distance.
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: Just use your bodies together. Go for a walk. Go
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: for a hike. Play basketball. Kick a soccer ball around.
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: Ride some bikes. Go for a swim. Work outside. Explore somewhere.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: If you're feeling froggy, race the kids to the mailbox.
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: Whatever fits your family and your current level of conditioning.
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: While you're at it, I want you to pay attention
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: to something. Are your kids enjoying using their bodies? Are
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: you Because maybe one of the simplest things we can
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: do for the next generation is to remind them that
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: having a body is not a problem to solve. It's
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: a gift to use. Coming back to my story about
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: playing in the trampoline park. Something powerful I've learned about
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: my body is this. Well, it's harder to play when
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: you're an adult or even a grandparent. And it represents
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: so much more time, energy, and effort than when we
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: were kids. A conscious and intentional adult. can protect the
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: space of play in profound and amazing ways. That doesn't
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: mean you have to do all of the high-energy things
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: that the kids are doing. The way that looked for me,
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: not just at the trampoline park, but maybe riding a bike.
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: If I'm going around a block, the kids will come
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: with me, and they'll kind of revolve around me, like
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: electrons around a nucleus or something. Sometimes they go way out.
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: Sometimes they come back. Sometimes they ask if they can
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: go all the way around the block and try to
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: lap me. And that's the other side of this conversation
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: that we have to acknowledge. It's very difficult to teach
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: our children healthy stewardship when we don't have a clear
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: picture of our own. Sometimes the best thing we can
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: do for our family's health isn't to start fixing everybody else.
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: It's to start with ourselves. And that's why I created
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: the Faithful Fitness Assessment. It takes just a few minutes
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: and helps you evaluate where you are right now. Not
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: just exercise, but the bigger picture of health, habits, and stewardship.
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: Where are you strong? Where are you drifting? And what's
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: the next step? When you complete the assessment, you'll also
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: be able to register for our next live Faithful Fitness seminar.
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: I'm especially excited about this one because my wife Kristen
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: is going to be joining me. Kristen is a registered dietitian.
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: She's a mom, and the two of us are right
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: in the middle of raising our boys. So we won't
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: be talking about some theoretically perfect household. We'll be talking
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: about what it actually looks like to build healthy habits
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: in the middle of work, school, church, sports, picky eating,
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: busy schedules, marriage, parenting, and real life. So take that
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: faithful fitness assessment. Reserve your spot in the seminar. and
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: come join us. The link's in the description below, or
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: you can go to faithfulfitness.co slash assessment. And finally, I
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: want you to remember this. If you're worried about your
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: kids getting more activity and building a healthier body, they
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: probably don't need a better workout plan. They need to
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: grow up in a home where using the body God
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: gave them is simply just a part of what life
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: looks like every day. Don't just tell them to move
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: Show them what a lifetime of movement can look like.
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: And if you need help with that, your next step
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: is to take that assessment. You know where to find it. Guys,
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: this has been Coach Alex Van Houten with the Faithful
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: Fitness Podcast. Until next time, train hard, but pray even harder.
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: What's up, Faithful? This episode helped you. Share it with
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: someone who needs to hear it. And don't forget to
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: subscribe and leave a review. So more people can find
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: Faithful Fitness. My dad's devotional, Faithful Fitness, is available now.
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: And you can join our Faithful Fitness community by clicking
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: the links in the show notes. We all have a
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: cross to carry, but it's lighter when we do it together.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: See you later, alligator. But until then, train hard and
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: pray even harder. Thank you.