Shaq: Lose Your Militant Trainer
I do think Shaq's heart is in the right place, but the people he has hired to help these tweens have no clue how to think like a kid (although Shaq seems to). Or how to design a program that is sustainable after they leave the children's lives. Case in point, the gentleman charged with getting them in shape, Tarik Tyler, is nothing less than militant. He knows only one way to motivate and that has nothing to do with fun. He has the kids on treadmills, doing drills.. everything a kid probably wouldn't do on their own, but has to in this instance because Mr. Tyler is cracking the whip. The kids of course hate it and complain a lot.
Shaq finally does intervene and asks Mr. Tyler to have more "fun" with the kids. No duh! These kids, or any kids, mostly like will not continue their strict exercise program once Mr. Tyler is no longer there to crack that whip. I just don't see this kind of regimen being sustainable once Shaq and his crew are gone from their lives. I have no doubt they will lose the weight, it's a television show after all. If they didn't, that wouldn't make good TV.
But weight loss in itself is not the hard part. The hard part is keeping the pounds off. That is why we have to engage kids in activities that are doable and enjoyable to them when it comes to exercise. They can play team sports, go bike riding, play tag, dance (the Dance Dance Revolution video game is a great example), hula hoop, jump rope, jump on a trampoline, hippity hop or pogo stick, engage in good old fashioned 'play'. There are so many possibilities. Yelling them to go faster on the treadmill is not.
In the show Shaq gets them to play dodgeball and soccer which they end up loving; Because those activities are FUN! I say to Shaq, get rid of Tarik Tyler. If you are really serious about helping these kids, show them how much fun they can have just moving their bodies playing games and sports and dancing etc. Is that so hard?
Please share with me activities you've done with your kids that they liked and got them movin at the same time. The more ideas the better!
Have a fruit and veggie filled day!
10 Comments:
At Fri Aug 03, 10:04:00 AM 2007,
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD said…
Thank you from your fellow blogger, The Fitness Fixer for your post.
Fitness as a lifestyle - moving in healthy, fun ways for everyday real life.
At Sun Aug 05, 09:24:00 PM 2007,
Anonymous said…
These children had plenty of fun activities. Please remember this is reality TV and productions air's what will catch the viewer’s eye. Major progress was made with these six children under the circumstances each child dealt with day to day.
At Mon Aug 06, 08:29:00 PM 2007,
Anonymous said…
Okay, as a mother of three of three children, you really should appauld the program, you should appreciate a person as Tarik. Tarik may be hard but results are fair by what he does! If kids don't respect you they won't do anything. Those children respect Tarik. I would like to see you use your method, put nutrient food in front of obese children for 10 months and lets see if you get the same results, eating healthy food is not fun for children! Fighting obesity is not fun, and it sure is not fun for these children to be in that situation, so don't rag on Tarik Tyler to pull viewers to your sight. Appauld him! The children truly enjoyed him!!!
At Thu Aug 09, 09:14:00 AM 2007,
Anonymous said…
anonymous mother of three, is it the case that forcing children to run faster on a treadmill is ok but giving them Andrea's good food is not? How about if you forced them?
Discipline that only comes from forcing is a mindset to check. Respect from fear and forcing is a weak respect. There are higher ways - real lifestyle is not a treadmill but sweating to clean the house of a shut-in or till a community garden to make fun healthy food.
The mindset that healthy eating is not fun is another problem. It can be not only fun, but a whole uplfting fun happy clean and less expensive way to live.
At Tue Aug 14, 07:51:00 AM 2007,
Anonymous said…
i think tarik did a goood job with the kids. they aren't going to do the same kind of things after he is gone but hopefully they will keep up some sort of exercise program. the kids were left alone to work out and you see how far that got them. tarik was brought in to change all that and he did. the kids might have hated him in the beginning but as time went on you could see that they were changing their view of him. just because he was tough doesn't make him a bad guy or bad for the kids. kids today have no respect for anyone and those kids did respect tarik. i think if they do another season they should bring tarik back and show more of him training the kids.
At Mon Aug 27, 08:35:00 AM 2007,
Anonymous said…
Anonymous mother of three, back again. I did not state giving them Andrea's heathly menu is not okay, when dealing with morbidly obese children, forcing them to excercise is a necessity as well as reinenforcing better eating habits. Folks, let's be realistic, Tarik's method worked, it would be interesting to see a year outcome of those same children that Shaq's Challenge worked on. I say, a collaboration of Tarik's method and Andrea's nutrious menu would help decrease obese children. So, let's bond as oppose to bash!
At Thu Sep 06, 01:53:00 PM 2007,
Cary said…
I agree that Tariks method was rigid, but it did produce results. Whether the kids will take what they have learned and apply it to the rest of their lives remains to be seen. I agree that if he would have implemented more kid friendly exercises, the kids would be more likely to stick to their weight loss after the show is over.
Kids can have a blast and get plenty of exercise if you pull them away from the TV and get them involved in almost any outdoor activity. Hiking, bicycling, camping, ect. can all be great forms of exercise and loads of fun. Any sport you can get your kids into is good for their mind and body.
At Sun Feb 10, 07:53:00 PM 2008,
Anonymous said…
Tyler is militant, but he did get results. Regardless of what anyone says, those kids would probably have died an early (preventable) death because of obesity related complications. This world is a jungle--and there is certainly a war out there! We need our kids to be strong, healthy, and ready for the battles life places in front of them.
At Wed Jul 02, 01:44:00 PM 2008,
RasJane said…
Andrea, you asked how we get our kids out and having fun.
For starters, I haven't seen the show. Why not? We sold the TV 7 years ago when our oldest was 2. That right there helps a ton. We also don't schedule a million activities. We homeschool our kids and they are free most of the day to play outside. And that is exactly what they do. They boys ride bikes, play sidewalk chalk games, build "forts" and run endless back and forth.
They also help with the garden so they have an appreciation of what real food is. They each get to pick some plants to care for.
We go to the farmers markets and local u-pick farms. They go out to the farm to get our eggs and milk and help out there. They understand how food affects our minds and bodies. They know what it takes to be healthy. And they do it.
I've never seen them mindless eat a junk food-mostly because they aren't in the house. I'm the mom and I know it is my responsibility to provide healthy food and activities for my kids.
At Tue May 19, 08:43:00 PM 2009,
Heather said…
Well, let me preface this by saying that I do not have kids and I was kid who was not motivated to exercise at all when I was at home. However, during summers I got A LOT of exercise during my summer job surveying roads even though I ate less than healthy (though very adventurously). Between two overwieght parents, no motivation, and no mental reason to get healthy, I left my parents house 50-60 lbs overweight.
The first year I was in college I started getting in shape by finding fun things to do: horseback riding, martial arts, just getting to classes! That and a lousy meal plan. I realized that exercise was not just getting on the dreaded treadmill or working until you were bone tired. There were fun ways to get fit!
Well, I am still technically "overweight" by US medical standards, but I eat healthy (mostly organic fruits and veggies, some venison and other meats tossed in there as well, gluten-free completely due to Celiac) and walk and garden when I can. Heck, I have even managed to get exercise tossed into my day even when my rheumatoid arthritis is really flaring--even if it is just stretching muscles from bed.
Exercise does not need to be a chore. Things like a good DDR pad, a garden, a bike and people to support you are great ways to get active and still have fun. Even walking the dog counts!
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