We are all born knowing how to move. It’s hard wired. Though, somewhere a long the line we are “taught” by marketers and the media that without the latest fashion accessory, shoes, or techno gadget, we will never live up to our full potential. We NEED the latest shoes so that we can run on the treadmill for hours. We NEED that fancy heart rate monitor to keep us “in the zone”. We NEED the doctors permission before engaging in X fitness program.
We are a society obsessed with magic bullet solutions. We want easy, we want to be able to buy it conveniently and we want zero accountability for our actions.
Now imagine if one of the major lessons you learned as a young child was how to work hard. Not just hard, REALLY hard, and that with that hard work comes rewards that can only be obtained directly from that hard work? And what if the people you learned that lesson from framed that hard work in the form of a fun game, or a competition?
From an early age, you now associate hard work with fun. You learn that sweat equity and effort leads to changes both physically and mentally, and you learn that difficult obstacles and task are easy to overcome if you work just a little harder than last time. Confidence is gained through the mastery of your own movement and positive social skills are reinforced as you learn to be competitive yet supportive, agressive yet controlled.
Enter CrossFit Kids.
CrossFit as a program is still just a teenager. Functional fitness programming designed for kids under 12 is even younger still. We are only beginning to see the kinds of positive results that participation in CrossFit at an early age can bring. In an era where ADHD and obesity levels are reaching epidemic proportions, allowing kids to put down their video games, pop and candy to lift heavy objects and play games seems to only come with benefits.
We are on the cusp of a new era in sport and human athletic capability. School sporting records will slowly begin to be shattered by kids who have had movement and strength training for years. As coaches teach proper (read:data supported) nutrition, framed in the context of aiding athletic performance demand for high quality food in schools will rise. Kids will learn that their goals of growing big and strong will only be stunted by the boat loads of crap …er food dished out in cafeterias in North America.
Knowledge is power. Teach the kids what is good… change the consumer demands, change the market.
If you have experienced CrossFit for yourself, you know what I’m talking about. Don’t keep it to yourself. Share it with the kids.
