Get me my tattered sheet! I am Batman!

I discovered a disturbing new "fitness" trend: Fitness programs for the under 12 demographic.  Now let me be clear, I think kids should exercise.  I think they should maintain a healthy weight.  And I think creating a fitness program for them is pure insanity.

Having a structured fitness program for a five-year old is, to me, kind of like having a fitness program for my research assistant, Matilda.  For those who do not know, Matilda is s 2-year-old German Sheppard mixed with... stuff.  She is in great shape!  How, might you ask, does she do this?  I will tell you!  Although this is based purely on personal observations I have made during the last couple hours, I can comfortably clam Matilda lives to play.  She will play with anything at any time.  She plays with squirrels (admittedly I do not think the squirrels see the fun in sprinting across the yard fearing for their lives but that's their loss), she plays with bones, she plays with stuffed objects, some of which squeek, some of which do not, she plays with me, with other dogs, she plays with EVERYTHING.  The only time she does not play is when I force her to lay on her pillow while I work, waiting to play.  The closest thing she has to a structured workout is her evening walk but because I dictate the pace it probably is not much harder than waiting to play.

"What in the world does that have to do with a five-year-old," do you ask?

Again skipping the scientific research, I have determined, based on my own childhood memories, kids love to play!  When I was 5 I needed an old sheet and a stocking cap and I was Batman!  As Batman I would tear around the backyard fighting crime (Our backyard was a cesspool of crime) with a Batarang which looked remarkably like a broken Frisbee.  No one was yelling at me to do one more rep, no one was coming up with creative workouts or checking my form.  Crime did not sleep in St Paul so Batman was constantly on the move.  My mother did occasionally point out particularly heinous crimes which had to be stopped immediately,  Most of those happened during the winter months in very deep snow.

My point is with a little encouragement kids tend to find their own paths to fitness. The rest is just a gimmick.  Get them away from the televisions and tablets, send them outside and let them work their magic.  You too probably remember days from your childhood when you let your imaginations run wild and came home exhausted at the end of a long day of crimefighting.

For more information on fighting crime in my backyard, programs to kickstart YOUR fitness program or ways to avoid trending gimmicks, visit www.canyonptandf.com  And remember to always be yourself, unless you can be Batman.  Then ALWAYS be Batman.