What does your preteen/teen do to exercise?

[darien]

My ds12 used to do karate and swimming lessons weekly, plus play 3 team sports per year.

Right now, swimming doesn't fit our schedule, and he decided he only likes 1 of the 3 sports he used to play.

Lately, he spends a lot of time in his room with books, movies, and a bag of chips. I'm concerned that with a big growth spurt in the wings, now is a bad time for him to become a couch potato!

I'm going to see if we can fit swimming back in, or more karate. Also, we'll be taking more walks, now that it's Spring.

What do your adolescents and families do to stay fit?

[kathymuggle]

He bounces on the trampoline.

We hike about once a week - it is not his favourite thing to do, but he tolerates it as we often go out to eat afterwards.

He will swim during the summer - or on the rare occurence when we hit an indoor pool. Same thing with sledding, skating and biking - on occasion.

Truly, he is not as active as I think he should be, but, ack, I am not always as active I should be either! I am not bad - but I do go it bits and spurts.

I offer up opportunities, role model, and that is all I can do. It is up to him.

You might have more luck curbing the chip eating behaviour. Who is paying for the chips? If it is you - cut that out If it is him - once again it is in his control, but I have had luck with the following:

wow - chips are 2$ a bag. if you buy 3 a week, that's 6 dollars - or 312$ a year. You could buy a wii with that!

I sometimes ask him before he makes a purchase if that is truly how he want to spend his money - about 50% he will decide not to splurge on goodies.

Kathy

[enkmom]

My son only played one sport, but it was tennis. He played all year long, so he stayed pretty active. My daughter always preferred solitary pursuits, so she was a walker. She never wanted company, just took off on her own.

One fun thing my son used to do was organize massive capture the flag games on the weekends. They ran around like maniacs, and as many as 20 kids came out to play at a time. It was for fun, not exercise, but the activity was certainly a bonus. He also played a lot of ultimate frisbee.

[chiromamma]

14 yo DD rides her bike to get where ever she needs to go. I rarely drive her anywhere. Kung Fu 6-9 hours/week, Tai Chi 2 hours/week, girls' 10K training at school 3-5 hours/week. Skiing with school 1/week + once or twice a week w/the family.
12 yo DS bikes or buses to get around. He snowboards with school once /week and goes with me or his sis 1-2/week. Little League baseball practice 5 hours of practice/week and 2 or 3 games after opening day.
They both do swimming lessons or some swim training in the summer.
We often hike as a family on the weekends. More frequently during the summer.
DD and I are going to do a 14er this summer.
DD was very into books in her room with a bag of snacks. I just insisted that she do a sport and now she's an exercise freak. It's been so good to see her go from feeling fat (she's taller and curvier than most of her peers) to being amazed at what her body can do. She loves how strong and supple she's become.

[lab]

We all run. My kids all run cross country.

My oldest (now 15 and in high school) started at 11 in 6th grade. My dd followed two years later and now my youngest ds will start running in June in preparation for the fall season.

I can't describe the feeling you get when your kid is running 1.8 miles and starts digging in at the finish line. My heart literally swells. Amazing.

I was so impressed and proud of my kids when I realized that they were serious athletes!

So I started running. I can do the mile in 6:56 and will run a 10k in April. I was already a size two, but now am a size 0 without losing any additional weight. Our bodies were made to run.

My ds15 will run about 10 miles a day during the xc season (June until Oct/Nov). My other two will run three miles a day during the season.

[kay4]

they play at the park for 2-3 hours a day, playing basketball, tag etc. My 14 yo is trying out for track this week also
We also walk to and from school each day.

[suabel]

My 13-year-old dd swims competitively: only once a week in the winter, but 6 days a week in the summer. She also rides her bike or walks all around town.

My ten-year-old dd plays spring and fall soccer (2 practices a week and one game on the weekend) and winter basketball (1 practice a week and one game on the weekend) as well as riding her bike for fun and swimming for fun in the summer several times a week.

My six-year-old plays soccer spring and fall (one practice/one game per week) plus lots of bike riding and swinging/climbing on the playset.

I've very fortunate as my kids seem naturally motivated to be active.

[ArielMomma]

DD runs. She usually does around 45-50 miles per week.

[sagewinna]

DS (15) goes to the gym with me several times a week. He also rides his bike, walks the dogs, plays baskeball with friends, etc.

[Irishmommy]

They both rock climb about 4 times a week. They also swim in summer. Dd2 walks to/from school, and dd1 walks to her closer friends.

[KaraBoo]

dd, 10, exercises with me 5 days a week. We have weekly park day where she runs around practically the whole time. In summer, we swim four or five days a week. She is starting tennis next month. We also do family walks in the park or on trails.

[34me]

My 14 yo doesn't do a whole lot but she bikes to school, friends houses and anywhere she wants to go without us.

My 12 yo plays hockey and is on the ice about 7 hours a week with three hours of dry land and then plays 6+ hours of lacrosse a week in the off season. Plus he bikes everywhere all summer. He's thinking about joining the track team this year at school.

My 10 yo runs around like a maniac with his friend. They both ride their bikes a bunch and ds rides his home from school 1-2 x per week.

[mtiger]

A, 17, doesn't exercise per se, but he walks all over creation. C, 15, plays field hockey year round. In addition to practice, she runs and does weight training.

[Ann-Marita]

DD dances. a LOT. 10 to 13 hours a week, sometimes more. Ballet, tap, jazz, modern, lyrical, I'm sure I'm leaving something out. Year round. No stopping for the weather when it's terribly hot or cold outside, no worries about rain causing cancellations (unless it's a flood).

Also, she rides her bike around the neighborhood to visit local friends.

And regular, almost weekly park days with homeschool friends.

[joyluc]

My DS is 12. He plays football but is otherwise not interested in team sports. He has a very big, strong build - like a wrestler. He has taken Tae Kwon Do several places and is really good at it. We just found a great studio with classes 6 days a week that he can go to as often as he wants, when it gets a little nicer he will walk or ride his bike about 1 1/2 miles there. He wants to lose weight and can be very disciplined about exercise - not so much with food. He had a huge growth spurt in the last 6 months that has really thinned him out.

[amynbebes]

My 12 yr old ds plays competitive soccer 10 months out of the year, plays hard in p.e. every day, jumps on the trampoline and goes for walks with me on the weekends. He and I are actually going to start training soon for a 5k. However, my 13 yr old dd doesn't play sports and does as little as she can at p.e. She does go for walks with my and jump on the trampoline though.

[Storm Bride]

DS1 (16) was on the school gymnastics team. That was 2-3 practices per week from the beginning of November to the beginning of March. He's now joined the Ultimate team, as well - another 2 practices per week, and the games are about once every two weeks (I think - I haven't fully absorbed the pages of info I got). We also try to take walks as a family, but that's not on any kind of schedule. We do have him come with us for most family hikes, but we haven't been out for months, because of the weather. He loves the outdoors.

From June through to the end of August, he swims pretty much everyday, because we have a pool in our townhouse complex - only open for 3 months a year.

He used to walk to school every morning (about a mile uphill), but he now gets a ride with a friend's mom, so he's missing out on that.

He also does workouts in his room a lot - muscle building stuff, mostly - and uses the local playground to do gymnastics workouts, as well as usually attending a weekly drop-in for training.

He could use a little more aerobic exercise, but he's definitely not sedentary.

[karne]

Plays outside, rides her bike, horseback rides.

[EFmom]

My 11 yo does Tae Kwon Do 3-5 times/week for an hour each time. She's also naturally very active, riding her bike, taking walks, playing games at the afterschool program.

[BelovedK]

Skateboards, it's all he wants to do