My
initial goal when I pursued my personal training certificate was to work
w/ women-particularly moms. To help them recognize that taking care of
your physical self not only nurtures your mental health, but helps you
to take care of your loved ones & sets an awesome role model for
growing children.
My
goals have evolved over the last two years. I still very much enjoy
working w/ new moms, but have been approached by many other walks of
life for advice. It has helped me to recognize that fathers, and all
others need to learn this lesson of self love. Until you take care of
you, you can't sufficiently care for anyone else.
That
being sd, if we help instill this in our youth they will have no need
to fix these issues in adulthood. Funny as it is kids can easily learn
these things. Just as they can easily pick up bad habits from
us-absorbing everything like a sponge, they can also take in positive
behaviors. Coming to this realization has lead me to work w/ kids.
What an awesome opportunity. Guiding our children on a positive path.
Feeding them a healthful knowledge & providing them w/ a toolbox of
items to take home and support their own self. Maybe my words are too
deep, or yogic, but you get the drift.
I recently went out to California to CrossFit Brand X, and obtained my CrossFit Kids
Coach Certificate. I am very excited to begin working w/ kids.
Previously I had worked in daycare, one of my tasks being a 3 yr old
room Teacher. So I had that bit of knowledge creating lessons plans.
Fast forward 11 yrs later here I am.
Currently I have taught 2 bootcamps to kids at Camp Summer Fun
at the University of Michigan Flint Rec center. They were two groups
of about 20-30 kids aged 6-11 yrs. Man was it a blast. The kids had so
much positive energy and excitement. A genuine desire to do good
work. And then there were some kiddos that felt physically discouraged
of their abilities & needed a lil more motivation. All in all it
was a good time.
I
have been coaching the neighborhood kids, including my son. They do
great work, and have fun playing games too. These opportunities have
been between 2-4 kids at a time. Believe it or not the smaller groups
seem to take more finesse. The energy of the larger group is easy to
keep going. But keeping it fun is key, and knowing when to move on is
important.
Last weekend I worked for Genesys Athletic Club leading dances, games and stretching at the CrimFit Kid's Invitational.
The groups of kiddos were as small as 2 kids to well over 100 kids at a
time! They loved the Egg on a Stick Game. The Hokey Pokey was a flop,
live and learn. The Cha-Cha Slide went over well, would have been
better if the sound system wasn't choppy. Seeing the HUGE smiles of
excitement as these kids crossed the finish line was worth FAR more than
my paycheck. They were filled w/ pride, and a strong feeling of
success.
Coming up next month I am excited to announce I will be teaming up Joe & Liz at 810 CrossFit coaching
CrossFit Kids w/ 2nd-5th graders. I will be coaching on
Mondays at 5pm and on Saturday mornings at 10:30 am. Joe & Liz will
also be coaching CFKids on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday at 5 pm. I
have been given the honor of programming the CFKids classes at 810.
The classes will follow this format:
FUN-FUN-FUN
20 minutes of Study
3 minute Warm up
10 minutes of Skill Work
15 minutes of WOD (Workout of the Day)
10 minutes of a Game
2 minutes of Stretching
810's
CFKids is being advertised in the Grand Blanc Football Publication.
Keep an eye out for it. 810 subscribers if you are interested in
signing up your child for CFKids please contact Joe
for instruction. How awesome to be able to come for the 5 pm WOD, and
drop your kid off for study and their very own WOD, too. It will be a
great time for all.
My next ventures are a couple of YogaKids workshops in September. Stay tuned!
Here's to our youth!
