PB fitness for young'uns? page

[Tribal Rob]

Hi, does anybody have any advice for the changing the targets for the LHT part of the primal fitness blueprint for kids, we've just started eating primal and I'm doing the exersises as well.

I reckon the young'un (10 years old) gets enough move slowely on family walks and charging around in the park/woods etc waving sticks and shouting 'AAAHHHHH' gives a pretty good amount of sprint time.

But he wants to join in with me when I go to the trim trail on Saturday mornings to play on the stuff there (they have pull bars, monkey bars and other things I can't use yet too) I don't want him pushing himself too hard and damaging developing joints and bones, and want to keep it fun, but obviously he wants to do what I do (that's the primal way learn from your tibal elders)

Should he have the same targets as women as he hasn't had that pubety induced surge of muscle building tesosterone yet, or should they be lower still?

Many thanks

[Misabi]

Let him do all the body weight stuff he wants, it won't harm him at all.
When I was a kid I was virtually a monkey, climbing anything I could from trees, to power pylons (don't try this at home kids, very very dumb ).
The climbing frames / jungle gyms at the park were great and we didn't stop using them as we get older, I'm planning on building an adult size version in my garden

One of the games we used to play was having 2 people starting at opposite ends of the monkey bars with the aim of getting to the opposite end by any means necessary without falling off. Really increases grip and arm strength! I was playing this the other day with my 10 yo niece and was surprised at the amount of time she could hang on for, my almost 4 yo niece too. It's sad that most teenagers and adults aren't as strong (I know power to weight ratio etc..) as many little kids are.

And don't be afraid to be outdone on the monkey bars by your boy

[Chrish2891]

No need to worry with the bodyweight stuff as long as he does not do some dumb stuff (I used to jump out of my tree house when I was a kid, do not recommend it)

[PrimalBaker]

Let him have a go at it! Let him do what's fun and natural for a kid his age to do. I think that especially for kids if they get into the mindset it's "working out" they might get bored or just not like the idea of it after awhile. If you both just have fun doing it it will become a great bonding experience for you while getting in better shape. And the memories of playing in the park with his dad will be fantastic!

[Dirlot]

Once a week I would turn it around. Instead of wondering what he can do, ditch the PBF and try and keep up with him, challenge each other. A play day on the bars and his and your strength will soar.

[Tribal Rob]

It's not me that want's the targets it's him, I'm happy for him to just play.

I'll just keep on telling him to stop if it hurts then. It would be great if I could just play at keeping up with him, but unfortunately I leave him standing and he's a bit of wuss when it comes to climbing and jumping off things (or maybe I'm a bit if an idiot, my knees where a bit sore after I decided it would be fun to jump down from the top of the little kiddies play thing not realizing it was over 5 foot up last Saturday)

[Dirlot]

In that case I would judge his fitness and his temperament and see how it goes. Start with easier stage 1 targets then move onto stage 2. It sounds like a stage target set would keep him interested with attainable goals.

[Tribal Rob]

Yeah, I reckon I'll probably start with really low targets, like 10 wall presses, 10 pole squats etc and then go from there, keep it easy, achivable and fun