Sep
24
Oh Yes He Can
Filed Under Childhood Obesity, Fitness Motivation | Leave a Comment
Babcock
“Can you remember a spring day in your thirteenth year? A seductive breeze, a few white clouds sketched by a careless artist, the sun striking maddening smells from the moist earth and encouraging unaccustomed pulses in various parts of your body.
It was just such a day in 1972, on a late-morning walk in a small Virginia town, that I came across a group of some thirty-five or forty thirteen-year-olds sitting on a grassy bank. I was on a lecture tour, summoned from my motel by the sight and smell of April blossoms.
Standing in front of boys and girls was a taut-muscled young man in gym shoes, gym pants, a white T-shirt, a crew cut, a whistle, and a clipboard. Next to the young man, like a guillotine in the sunlight, was a chinning bar. I stopped to observe the scene.
The man looked at his clipboard. ‘Babcock’ he called.
There was a stir among the boys and girls. One of them rose and made his way to the chinning bar: Babcock the classic fat boy.
Shoulders slumped, he stood beneath the bar. ‘I can’t,’ he said.
‘You can try,’ the man with the clipboard said.
Babcock reached up with both hands, touched the bar limply –just that-and walked away, his eyes downcast, as all the boys and girls watched, seeming to share in his shame.
I also walked on, flushed with anger. Beneath the anger, I sensed something tentative and hurt. The incident seemed to touch an area of my past that I had conveniently forgotten. The day was so lovely-no time to explore painful areas. I started thinking about other things.
But Babcock was not to let me off so easily. The vignette kept replaying itself in my mind. I was fascinated by the way the fat boy walked to the chin up bar, waddling slightly but moving fast as if eager to have it done with; his condemned stance beneath the bar, the minimal, symbolic touch of his hands on the metal; his utter resignation as he walked away, his head bobbing from side to side.
Again and again, Babcock rose, walked to the bar, stood there, touched the bar, walked off. The scene took on the quality of a Greek drama. The man with the clipboard became the stern-visaged god who devises tests for us, then sends us on without mercy to our respective fates. The boys and girls took the part of the chorus, by their silence condemning the unworthy, and yet by the same silence, expressing their own uneasiness and shame.”
…From George Leonard’s Classic Book, The Ultimate Athlete
So What Can We Do For Babcock?
Well, as it turns out, in the Chicago area (for example) Babcock represents at least 23% of all kids under the age of seven. Nationwide, it’s more than 10%. And if you use the pull up bar as your acid test, the figures actually grows dramatically worse because upper body weakness also comes into play.
The question then for the remainder of this book is…how can we help the Babcocks around the world? What can we do to give them the strength and the confidence required to…
- set a goal,
- get a couple workouts in each week for a prescribed period of time,
- eat right,
- get sufficient rest,
- avoid negative habits including tobacco, alcohol, and drugs,
- grab hold of the damn pull up bar
- and show the world that they can do it too?
- That’s the specific challenge that motivates this web site.
Sep
24
In the Beginning…
Filed Under Childhood Obesity, Educators Fitness Info | Leave a Comment
This is the actual story that we used to read the kids at Jefferson Elementary School in Davenport, Iowa to set the stage for OPYOW.
…The Old Coach
Pull Your Own Weight:
A Really Strong Story For Kids
Johnny was a kindergartner. But his cousin Jamal was a senior in high school and a star running back on the football team. Johnny always looked up to Jamal and hoped one day that he too would be a star athlete, with his picture in the newspaper, and people talking about him on television. Everyone thought Jamal was really cool.
One day after supper Jamal and Johnny were wrestling around on the living room floor. When the action slowed down and they were each catching their breath, Johnny said. “I want to be just like you when I grow up Jamal. Do you think I will be?”
Jamal thought for a moment before he answered. Finally he said “Johnny, if you really want to be strong like me it’s up to you! If you play your cards right, you’ll be strong in all kinds of ways. And if you play your cards wrong, you’ll probably be weak. Now which would you rather be Johnny, weak or strong?
Johnny just smiled and said “I want to be strong just like you Jamal. But I don’t understand what you mean about the cards. What do you mean when you say I have to play my cards right?
You Gotta Set A Goal And Practice Regularly To Be Strong
“Ok Johnny” let me give you an example of what I’m talking about so you’ll understand. One way to get strong is by setting a goal and doing exercises, like for example…pull ups, right? Now I have lots of friends in my school who hate pull ups, but it’s because they’re weak, they weigh too much, and they can’t do pull ups. So when the coach puts them on the pull up bar and they can’t do anything but hang, they get totally embarrassed.“
“But personally, I love pull ups because I’m strong, light, and I can do lots of ‘em. You could say I’m a star on the pull up bar” said Jamal with a cool smile.
“But one of the reasons I’m strong and light is that I’ve practiced doing pull ups twice a week ever since I was in fifth grade when I decided that I wanted to be able to do more than anyone else in my class…which I did, because I was the only one who practiced doing them.”
“Now, seven years later, after I’ve made little slices of progress every week, every month, every year, I look back and see that all those little slices of progress have added up to a great big pile of progress, especially if you compare me to others who never practiced pull ups.”
“Lots of my fellow students think I’m just a natural. What they don’t know is that anyone can be really strong on the pull up bar if they just practice regularly over a long period of time. It’s that simple.”
“So” Johnny said, “if I practice regularly, I’ll get strong like you, right Jamal?
You Gotta Eat Right
“Well that’s the first and most important part of the strength recipe,” replied Jamal. “But there are three more things that we need to talk about here Johnny. First we need to talk about the things you eat. That’s really important too.”
“For example if you eat lots of junk food like chips, soda pop, fries, and candy you’ll be depriving your body of the nutrition it needs to get really strong. Not only that, junk food tends to make you overweight, even fat. And the more you weigh, the harder it is to pull your own weight…to do pull ups. So it’s really important that you eat the right foods if you really want to get strong. Understand Johnny?”
“Yah, I understand Jamal,” said Johnny. “So I should practice doing pull ups every week, eat right, and I’ll get strong just like you, right Jamal?
You Gotta Get Your Rest
“Hang on Johnny. There are still two more things we need to talk about. The next one is getting your rest. You see as important as regular practice, and good eating habits are, it’s also really important to get enough rest if you really want to get strong. See your body needs time to recover from work, that’s why you only practice pull-ups twice a week…three times at the most. If you do more than that you won’t recover enough to get really strong.”
“Not only that, but you have to get to bed at night in order to get enough sleep. Lots of kids try to stay up too late, and get up too early, and their bodies don’t get enough rest. They can’t build the muscles necessary to be strong. Got it?”
“Got it Jamal. But you said there’s one more thing, right? What is that?
And You Gotta Avoid Tobacco, Alcohol, and Drugs
“The last thing you need to know is that, even though lots of kids today think they’re cool, things like cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs make you weak. The fact is that anybody can smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, and do drugs. That doesn’t take any talent.”
“But the kids that I know who are into that stuff, just get weaker, and weaker. In other words those kids can’t pull their own weight in any way. Not only that, they’re afraid to try for fear of failing, just like those kids who are embarrassed by being on the pull up bar. Their fear causes them to escape and to become weak in all kinds of ways.”
But if you practice regularly over a long period of time, eat right, get your rest, and stay away from things that make you weak, you will be a star at almost everything you do Johnny.”
You Mean I’ll Be Good At Everything?
“I’ll be good at everything? Will getting strong on the pull up bar make me better in other stuff too Jamal?”
“Good question Johnny” Jamal replied. And the answer is that the same habits that make you strong on the pull up bar like regular practice, good eating, and getting enough rest, will help make you strong at anything else that you really want to do. You just have to decide what’s important, practice regularly, eat right, get enough rest, and over time you’ll see those thin slices of progress piling up into big chunks of progress that will make you strong in all those things that you choose to do. And that’s called pulling your own weight in all kinds ways” he added.
“So now do you understand what I said about playing your cards, right Johnny? And do you understand that whether you become strong or weak is pretty much up to you? And do you also understand that it’s up to you to choose those things that’ll make you strong, and avoid those things that’ll make you weak.
The better you are at making those choices Johnny, the stronger you’ll be. Right?
“Got it” said Johnny with a great big smile.
“Now” Jamal said “let me show you how to work out on that pull up bar and you’ll be pulling your own weight before you know it.”
THE END
Sep
24
So, You Want To Be Bad?
Filed Under Childhood Obesity, Fitness Basics, Fitness Process & Techniques | Leave a Comment
Some Kids Want To Be Bad, But No Kids Want To Be Weak
One of the important strategies of Operation Pull Your Own Weight is to exchange the terms good and bad, for the terms strong and weak in your child’s vocabulary. Why you ask? In the seventeen years I spent teaching and coaching, I met plenty of kids who “wanted to be bad.” But I’ve never met even one who “wanted to be weak.” Have you?
Girls, Boys, All Ages…
That goes for girls as well as boys, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, religion, etc. Think about for a second, have you ever known anyone who actually wanted to be weak? Personally I’ve never known anyone, who ever knew anyone, who actually wanted to be weak. We all want to be strong. It’s just how human beings are programmed. And for most kids, being able to perform pull-ups is a sure sign of physical strength.
What Does It Take?
But what does it take to develop strength on the pull-up bar? According to the OPYOW recipe it takes…
* regular work (twice per week),
* eating right,
* getting enough rest,
* and avoiding tobacco, alcohol and drugs.
In other words we taught kids that if they worked out on the pull-up bar a couple times each week, ate right, got sufficient rest, and avoided tobacco, alcohol, and drugs, they’d get stronger on the pull-up bar. We also taught kids that if they failed to work out regularly, if they ate poorly, failed to get enough rest, and messed with tobacco, alcohol, and drugs, they were shooting themselves in the foot, and asking to be weak.
No Way! That’ll Make Me Weak!!!
In fact I had a kindergartner back in the Jefferson School days who, in front a class full of kids, looked up at me and said, “Coach, my uncle Freddie wanted me to smoke a cigarette with him last night, but I told him, “No way. That’ll make me weak.” I immediately gave this youngster five, as did his teacher, and the rest of his classmates who all understood that messing with tobacco, alcohol, and drugs make you weak! And as we said previously, none of these kids wanted to be weak in anything.
Readin’, Writin’, and Rithmatic Too…..
Interestingly enough, those same kids who want to avoid weakness on the pull-up bar, also want to avoid weakness in all other aspects of their lives too, including their academics. And interestingly enough the habits that make you strong on the pull-up bar are the exact same habits that make you strong in every other aspect of life as well. If you work at reading (writin’ or rithmatic) regularly, over a period of time, eat right, get plenty of rest, and avoid negative habits like tobacco, alcohol, and drugs, you’ll eventually be strong in reading (writin’ and rithmatic), taking it one step at a time.
In Conclusion…
In conclusion, done correctly, the lessons you teach on the pull-up bar carry over to all other aspects of a child’s life because, as we’ve said a number of times now, some of them may want to be bad, but none of them ever want to be weak. If you make your case in these terms, your kids understand, they’ll respond positively, and they will develop not only physical strength, but an inner strength and confidence (self esteem) in themselves and their ability to meet challenges, and to overcome obstacles. Is there a better lesson you can teach a child at a young age? Personally, I can’t think of one.
Sep
24
The 20 Question PYOW (Strong/Weak) Test
1. All kids want to be…
1. Strong
2. Weak
2. No kids want to be…
1. Weak
2. Strong
3. Doing pull ups helps to make you…
1. Strong
2. Weak
4. When doing pull ups it helps to be…
1. Heavy
2. Light
5. The more pull ups you can do…
1. The stronger and lighter you must be
2. The heavier and weaker you must be
6. If you want to learn to Pull Your Own Weight (do pull ups) it helps to…
1. Practice regularly
2. Eat better
3. Do plenty of walking or running to burn off excess calories
4. Get enough sleep at night
5. Avoid using tobacco, alcohol, and drugs
6. All of the above
7. None of the above
7. When learning to do pull ups…
1. It helps if someone else does the pull ups for you
2. You have to do the work yourself…nobody else can do it for you
8. As long as you maintain your ability to perform pull ups…
1. You’ll never be obese, and you’ll always be relatively strong
2. You’ll always be obese, and you’ll never be strong
9. The habits that make you strong on the pull up bar…
1. Make you strong in all kinds of other ways, including academics
2. Make you weak in all kinds of ways, including academics
10. If you fail to make progress on the pull up bar…
1. It’s the teacher’s fault
2. It’s your parent’s fault
3. It’s your friend’s fault
4. Take responsibility for yourself and failure will be a thing of the past
11. If you’re too much overweight
1. You will be unable to do even one pull up
2. You must be a girl
12. If you can do at least one pull up…
1. You can’t be much overweight
2. You can’t be a boy
13. If you can do lots of pull ups…
1. You have to be pretty lean/slim
2. You have to be a girl
14. Using tobacco makes you…
1. Weak
2. Strong
15. Using alcohol makes you…
1. Strong
2. Weak
16. Using drugs makes you…
1. Weak
2. Strong
17. Eating poorly makes you…
1. Strong
2. Weak
18. Allowing someone else to do your homework makes you…
1. Strong
2. Weak
19. Getting too little sleep at night makes you…
1. Weak
2. Strong
20. The simplest way to make sure that you never become overweight is…
1. Learn, and always maintain the ability to do pull ups
2. Wait until a big pharmaceutical company creates a magic pill
3. Buy a piece of exercise equipment from a TV infomercial
4. Learn, and always maintain the ability to do pull ups
5. A and D
Sep
24
Using A Height Adjustable Pull Up Bar and Leg Assisted Pull Ups
Filed Under Fitness Process & Techniques | Leave a Comment
People want to know how to teach all kids to succeed immediately on the pull up bar. The answer is that you use a Height Adjustable Pull Up Bar in conjunction with Leg Assisted Pull Ups. The following is an excerpt from and upcoming article entitled An Old Coach Offers A Simple Solution to Childhood Obesity that is scheduled to appear in Chicago Health and Wellness Magazine…
But Kids Hate Pull-Ups
I told the coach that I thought his logic was impeccable, but in my view he had one problem. According to my recollection, most kids hated pull-ups with a passion. And if they hate doing it, how can you teach them to perform pull-ups? They’ll drag their feet all the way to the gym, won’t they?
Using A Height Adjustable Pull-Up Bar
“Kids hate doing anything where they fail in public,” the coach replied. “The trick is to start them young before they learned to fail on the pull-up bar. Start them out on a color coded, height adjustable bar that allows them all to succeed immediately with leg- assisted pull-ups, jumping and pulling at the same time. With this inexpensive tool you’ll eliminate failure, and build regular success into the experience for all participants. And it’s the REGULAR SUCCESS…IN PUBLIC, that teaches kids learn to love, (instead of hate) doing pull ups”
How High Do You Set The Bar?
A couple of more questions popped into my mind immediately. First, how high do you set the bar when you’re starting a youngster out? And secondly, how do you adjust the level of difficulty in order to insure REGULAR PROGRESS? I could tell however, the wise old coach had an answer on the tip of his tongue.
The Progression
“You start the bar out low enough that the child can do at least 8 leg assisted pull-ups, but no more than 12. You allow them to work out twice a week and expect them to improve every time for a number of weeks, consecutively. In other words, in the second workout they should do 9, in the third 10, in the fourth 11, and in the fifth 12 leg assisted pull-ups. When they hit 12 repetitions you raise the bar one inch and they begin the 8-12 process all over again. This strategy allows a child to make a little progress every time he or she works out, and after several weeks they learn to EXPECT TO SUCCEED IN PUBLIC, which in turn teaches them to love instead of hate pull-ups.”
Sep
24
A Parent’s Options…
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So Mom And Dad, When It Comes To Childhood Obesity You Have Several Options To Choose From In Order To Help Your Kids Avoid Obesity Forever!
So you’re a parent with two young kids, twins in fact named Jason and Jennifer, age four and five respectively. Both are happy and healthy kids that you’ve raised with careful tender love, care, and affection. But you’ve been reading about what they’re now calling the epidemic in childhood obesity, how the problem has increased over 300% in the last two decades, and how obesity is threatening to bypass tobacco as the number one preventable cause of death in the US today.
You fear now that Jason’s and Jennifer’s affinity for fast food and computerized video games is going to result in the kids becoming obese and suffering from all the problems that go hand in hand with kids being overweight/obese. You absolutely don’t want them to be subjected to that kind of treatment from peers, who we all know can be extremely mean even at a very young age.
Being a pro-active parent you begin to search the available literature on how to prevent childhood obesity before it begins. You go to the library, the book store, the internet and what do you find? Here’s a brief potpourri of the prescriptions that are currently out there on the market for you to choose from.
* You can depend on your doctor and the AMA (American Medical Association) to become inspired with the idea that losing weight is primarily a function of changing lifestyles and habits that lead to the problem in the first place. Basically they tell you that you have to reduce your kid’s calorie intake, and increase their physical activity level, and that habits and lifestyles are the culprits or the heroes when it comes to weight control in kids or adults. So make sure they get thirty to sixty minutes of active play every day, and cut the junk foods out of their diet… even though the television ads show and tell them how much fun (you deserve a break today) and delicious they are. The problem is they tell you to do it without telling how to motivate your kids to actually do it.
* You can depend on the Health Club to inspire your kids to increase their protein intake, decrease their carbohydrates, and design a circuit training (a combination of weights and aerobics) routine like their adult club members employ on a weekly basis. And the membership will run you about $49 per month, or $600 per year. But if it works, it’s worth it, right? But I suggest checking out their success rates before signing your kids up.
* You can depend on the Park District and sign your kids up to participate in a sport each summer, fall, winter, and spring. The hope is that your kids will get hooked on athletics, and in the process they burn all the excess calories running up and down the soccer field or the basketball court. They also have less time to vegetate on the TV or the computer if they’re participating in sports. But what if they prefer the cello?
* You can depend on the school that Jason and Jennifer both attend to eliminate the junk food in the vending machines and to teach a good Physical Education classes. After all it has a very good reputation in the neighborhood, so you could just place the fate of your kids in the hands of the school system and hope that they’ll learn all about being physically active and eating right. Yes you could do that…right?
It’s Up To You…
In short you could depend on the system and lots of other people and programs to help your kids avoid the modern, high tech obesity trap. Or you could take the bull by the horns yourself and teach your own kids to perform pull ups because you know that people who can pull their own weight are never obese, and people who are obese can never do pull ups. The ability to perform pull ups and the possibility of being obese are mutually exclusive, and are never found in the same person.
You know this from observing kids in gym class back when you were in school. It was always the relatively lean kids who could perform pull ups, and always the heavy kids who weighed to much to pull their own weight, and were inevitably embarrassed by any reference to the old pull up bar. So the choice is up to you. Do you depend on someone else, or do it yourself (pull your own weight) in about five minutes a week?
Sep
24
OPYOW’s 12 Step Program
Filed Under Educators Fitness Info | Leave a Comment
Here’s The 12 Step PYOW Program In A Nutshell
1. Read the Johnny and Jamal story (see the page called Setting the Stage) to your child in order to set the stage and give ‘em a context in which to understand the Pull Your Own Weight program.
2. Introduce the Height Adjustable Pull Up Bar/Leg Assisted, Jump Pull Up Technique by demonstrating it, and allowing the kids to try it. They’ll all quickly discover that the strategy is to show all participants how to succeed right from the get go, and to give them a way to progress regularly, and feel good about what they are accomplishing…in public.
3. Determine/Record The Participant’s Correct Starting Point by adjusting the bar level to a point where they can perform at least eight pull ups, but not more than twelve. The idea here is to do eight repetitions in the first work out, nine in the second, ten in the third, eleven in the fourth, and twelve in the fifth. When the participant performs twelve pull ups at this height, the bar is moved up one inch and the entire eight to twelve routine is performed all over again.
4. Determine/Record the level at which the child will eventually run out of leg assistance, the point at which he or she is doing regular pull-ups, and designate that level as the participant’s END GOAL. Then Count the number of links from their starting point to their end goal, and multiply that number by five in order to determine approximately how many workouts it will take to achieve the end goal. Depending on how many workouts per week you do (maximum of three) you should also determine how many weeks it will take to reach the end goal, mark that date of their projected final work out on the calendar and aim to finish up by that date.
5. Do workout number one with the child performing eight pull-ups at their designated starting point. When they’re done, make sure and give the child a high five, a smile, and a pat on the back so they know, and all their peers know that you’re proud of them.
6. On the PYOW chart, record each workout date, the level at which the workout was done, along with the number of pull-ups (between eight and twelve) the child did on that day. Then set a date for workout number two.
7. If you have multiple children participating, make sure that they are all rooting for each other, giving each other high fives, and patting each other on the back. This strategy effectively promotes self competition, winning almost performances every time, children experiencing joy in other’s success, and teamwork.
8. If possible, find five or ten minutes to talk with the kids about their feelings and the various lessons that can be learned from this project (i.e. getting stronger through regular workouts over a period of time, eating right, getting sufficient rest, the fact that nobody else can do the work for them, you have to do it for yourself, how avoiding tobacco, alcohol, and drugs makes you strong, not weak, and lots more that’s discussed in detail in a later chapter.)
9. Follow the inch by inch strategy all the way to the END GOAL. When the child has accomplished the goal they should receive a material reward of some sort (a “Wall A” T-Shirt or baseball hat, etc). From this point forward they are allowed to do as many pull-ups in each workout as they can do. We called this achievement…PASSING YOUR BAR EXAM.
10. From this point forward, one workout a week will probably allow them to maintain their ability to perform pull-ups, and to remain on Wall-A. But if their performance begins to slip, say from twelve pull-ups one week down to ten the next week, that’s a WARNING SIGN that they need to adjust something. It could be their diet if they’re picking up weight, or it could be the amount of rest they’re getting at night. It could be they’ll have to increase their workouts per week back up to two or even three in some cases. But quick and easy adjustments will allow them to maintain the level of performance they’ve cultivated and to stay firmly on Wall-A for as long as they choose to do so.
11. Now if a child can perform a certain number of regular pull-ups but still wants to be more lean, all they have to do is to increase the number of pull-ups they can do and the leanness will follow as a matter of course, naturally. In other words, more pull-ups means more strength (muscle mass), or less body weight, or a combination of both…any one of which indicates an improvement in body composition, the fact that the child is becoming leaner.
12. Understand that the Golden Rule of PYOW (those who can do pull-ups can’t be obese, or those who are obese, can’t do pull-ups) is just as true for teenagers and adults as it is for elementary school kids. So, Mom and Dad, or big brother or sister, if you want to be a model for your elementary age participant then have at it. There’s nothing better for your child than to see you walking the walk right along with them.
Recognize That You’re Building More Than Strength
Understand at the initial stages you’re building much more than upper body strength. You’re also building in the expectation of success. So it’s critical at the initial stages that regular progress is achieved, and recognized with high fives, etc. The child should feel good about doing his pull ups, and even look forward to the opportunity to do them, because (s)he is not allowed to do more than three workouts a week. Actually progress will occur with only two workouts a week if you want to restrict it that much. But again the restriction makes it special, and not something they can do any old time.
So in the big picture, as you raise the bar, and increase the workload, along with the child’s sense of “I can do this,” the bar will eventually become high enough that they run out of leg assistance and they’ll achieve the goal of pulling their own weight in a conventional sense. But again, there’s still more going on here than meets the eye.
Self Confidence And Motivation Is Built Into This Program
Now that sense of “I can do this,” the sense that “I can try something a little bit harder than I did last time and still expect to succeed,” is called confidence, self esteem, self worth, etc., and it’s crucial to anyone’s growth potential in any endeavor whether it’s pull ups, a high school degree, or succeeding in business. If you’re scared to try, you’re doomed to fail.
The possibility of success is often stopped in its tracks by a person’s own inability to take a chance, by a person’s own fear of failure. The fact of the matter is, anyone who is psychologically intimidated by failure has effectively doomed himself, stunted his own growth, and guaranteed his own failure. In order to grow and to succeed in anything you have to have confidence enough to try something a little new, something a little bit harder than last time…and you must “expect to be able to do this.” Failing to try, guarantees failure!
What Happens When Progress Stalls?
And if you reach a plateau where progress has stalled, you must be able to step back and figure out a way to start it moving again. Using pull ups as an example, you may have to adjust the amount of rest you’re getting in between workouts, add some calorie burning aerobics to your routine, or modify the quantity or quality of the food you’re eating to drop a little weight, and just watch as progress kicks back into gear as the result of your adjustment.
Now let me ask, how valuable is it to learn these kinds of lessons in a hands on kind of way, at an early age? If you say “it’s real important,” you see what I mean when I say the lessons you’ll learn from a pull-up bar go well beyond eliminating obesity.
A Natural Antidote To Peer Pressure
This self confidence thing by the way is that inner sense of strength and self worth that allows a child to think for himself and to avoid caving into peer pressure in situations where that needs to occur. A child who lacks that genuine sense of self confidence, is the child who is swayed by the group into doing things that he knows down deep, he should be avoiding. But psychologically they can’t afford to buck the crowd and to be called un-cool, etc. Inner strength weathers the peer pressure storm, and allows a child to stick with doing things that make him strong, and to actively avoid things that make him weak.
Sep
24
Three Specific Instances
Fifty Out of Fifty Chose Pull-Ups
A second grade teacher (Ms. Dari Spotten) had invited a rural second grade teacher to bring her class to our school (Jefferson Elementary) in order for them to get a taste of what an inner city school was like. The day was tightly planned right down to the minute, and the last two things on the agenda were recess and Pull Your Own Weight. But as the day came to a close the teachers both recognized that they only had time for one of these activities, so they put it up for a vote…recess or PYOW? I’m here to tell you that 50 out of 50 second graders chose to do pull-ups over recess. Who said kids can’t learn to love pull-ups?
Paying for the Opportunity to do Pull Ups
At Jefferson School back in the nineties we had an annual fun night, which was a PTA sponsored fundraiser where parents and teachers would donate a dish of something to eat, and booths would be set up all around the gym with various games that would attract and amuse the kids. Access to the food and the games was accomplished by purchasing tickets from the PTA table for a quarter a ticket.
On one of these occasions the PTA decided that a pull-up bar was going to be one of the booths, and that yours truly would be the official counter of pull-ups. Believe it not that fun night went on for over two hours and I had kid standing in line eight to ten deep, PAYING for the opportunity to get on the pull-up bar in order to show their proud parents how strong they’d become. At the end of the evening I had lost my voice from counting pull-ups. And if kids can learn to love pull-ups, why can’t they learn to love reading, writing, and arithmetic too? My bet is that they can.
No Way! That’ll Make Me Weak…
I was talking to a kindergarten class about Pull Your Own Weight when one little boy in the back raised his hand and proceeded to tell me and the rest of the class “Coach, my uncle Willie tried to talk me into smoking a cigarette last night, but I said NO WAY! That will make me WEAK!” At this point his fellow classmates all gave him an impromptu high five signifying their agreement. That may have been the single most gratifying moment of my entire seventeen-year teaching career. It goes to show this program goes well beyond preventing childhood obesity, and proving that EVEN KINDERGARTNERS GET IT.
Sep
24
Operation Pull Your Own Weight PLUS!
I’ve had some people ask, “What happens to a participant who has not only learned to do pull ups, but who has also mastered the life lessons that are built into Operation Pull Your Own Weight? Where’s the incentive, the motivation to stay interested and involved for that child?
The answer to that question is Operation Pull Your Own Weight PLUS. OPYOWP is tailor made for the graduate who would enjoy teaching others what they’ve learned from participating in OPYOW. On the initial level, there’s already a high degree of satisfaction and confidence built into the basic OPYOW experience. And of course, all participants can continue working to improve on their own performance levels.
Going Beyond Yourself
But when one child is teaching another child how to immunize themselves against obesity for a lifetime without pills, shots, or special diets it moves the teacher well beyond himself or herself. In other words when you can successfully explain the details of anything to someone else, even of both participants are children, your understanding of that subject grows deeper every time you light another fire. OPYOW is no exception to the rule. Not only that, but being able to instruct another person in something important like this, increases any teacher’s self-confidence significantly…including very young teachers.
Parents Gained Self Confidence
Actually, at Jefferson School we were working with an at-risk population and we recruited parents to come in and teach the kids to do their pull-ups. Now many of these parents initially lacked confidence in themselves. But if they stuck with the program as they’d promised to do, and showed up a couple times a week, on time (they didn’t want to disappoint the kids), these parents developed a sense of confidence that was lacking before they began working with the kids. In other words, they discovered their own ability to do something important (teach others), and they were recognized publicly for their efforts. Occasionally some of these parents were recognized in the local newspaper.
Real Teaching is a Fulfilling Experience
Teaching in the best sense, is a very fulfilling experience. That is to say, when you have one person who understands a subject well enough to explain it to another person who is dying to learn that subject, the transfer of knowledge from one person to the other is extremely fulfilling for both teacher and student. And Operation Pull Your Own Weight Plus fills that void, as it creates more potential teachers, all at the same time. So in answer to the question how do you keep kids involved after they’ve learned to do pull-ups, we just said…OPYOW Plus. Teach others what you’ve learned.
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OPYOW Proponents…
Filed Under Fitness Press, Fitness Proponents/Oponents | Leave a Comment
Tim Grover Says PYOW…Yes
Michael Jordan’s Personal Trainer Endorses OPYOW…
Tim Grover is the exercise physiologist (M.S. University of Illinois, Chicago) who served as Michael Jordan’s personal trainer for over a decade during Jordan’s long and storied NBA career.
Currently Tim trains and counsels other high profile athletes including LeBron James who’s considered Jordan’s heir apparent, Alex Rodreguez, superstar of the NY Yankees, Dwayne Wade who with his Miami Heat teammates, recently won the 2006 NBA Championship. Check Tim out at www.attackathletics.com.
Tim is also a man of few words (his actions speak louder) which is why it’s a great compliment to have him say…
“Operation Pull Your Own Weight is an inexpensive way to help prevent childhood obesity. I recommend it as an easy and measurable way to help kids keep fit.”
…Tim Grover
www.attackathletics.com
Dr. Tommy Boone, Co-Founder and former President of the American Society of Exercise Physiologists, and Chair of the Department of Exercise Physiology at the College of St. Scholastica in Deluth, MN says of OPYOW…Hi Rick,
I read the (Chicago Health and Wellness) article. It is well written. Your passion for helping young children avoid obesity is obvious. Strangely, the article reminded me of the bar my dad put at the top of the door to our bedroom. We would chin ourselves upon entering and leaving. I never did get fat and still remain rather strong for my age. A good idea always has a beginning. I wish you the best with your work. It comes across that you are doing the right things for the right reasons.
Sincerely,
Tommy
Tommy Boone, PhD, MPH, FASEP, EPC
Professor and Chair
Director, Exercise Physiology Laboratories
Department of Exercise Physiology
The College of St. Scholastica
1200 Kenwood Ave
Duluth, MN 55811
http://faculty.css.edu/tboone2/resume.html