Sep
24
In the Beginning…
Filed Under Childhood Obesity, Educators Fitness Info
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
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.