Live life like a kid!

With the week break, I've had some time to reflect about our second BCCF kids session. It's been a blast, but I have learned something very important from our little ones. They don't even know they've taught me it, but I'm happy they have. One of the reasons I love coaching kids is because they live without ego or fear of embarrassment. What I mean by that is not once have I heard one of the kids say "I can't" or "But I'll look stupid". Kids live life and go about tasks without worrying about what they look like. When we become teens and adults we start having an ego, we try to please others, and we fear failure and embarrassment.

The kids have taught me to ditch my ego. I don't mean the ego you think of, like someone bragging about their CrossFit Total or 1 mile time. I mean the ego we carry around without knowing. Our ego keeps us from trying things that scare us. Maybe something like hanging from the pull up bar, kicking upside down against the wall, or the squat snatch (what if I fall on my butt?!?!). Ego prohibits us from attempting tasks (CrossFit or otherwise). Remember you are here to better yourself, it's OK if you look silly or fail. When adults hear "starjumps" or "burpees" or "handstands" many times I notice slight cringes or hear groans. Kids? Do they like star jumps?!?! Heck yes! Do they care if they topple over during their handstand? I think not. I encourage you to live life like a child, try it for just one class, and see how it feels.

Can't wait for the summer session to start up!!! Oh, and this post is too cool not to share. It has AWESOME ideas for paleo lunches. I know school is out, but how great would these be for a hike or beach day...and totally not just for kids! Ditch that bread and goldfish, you won't need them anymore.

-BCCF Kids Coaches

The CrossFit Games

Games without a plug? Those are the best kind!!! With electronics everywhere sometimes it's hard to remember how fun a game of foursquare or kickball can be. While researching some games we can play with the kids, I came across this AWESOME list that I thought I'd share with you too. These are great games to break out during summer. Remember, sometimes the most simple of games are the ones that are the most well-received!

And if you love your electronics...have you been watching the regional coverage of the CrossFit games? If not, you have to! You can stream live on games.crossfit.com. Regionals are each weekend through June 9, then the Games are July 22-29. I'm bringing this up because your kids might really like watching the CrossFit athletes, so they can see what they can do when they are all grown up. This is why we learn our angry gorilla, how to hold up the sky, jump high, run fast and go upside down!  Here is a video of some kids enjoying last year's CrossFit games.

REMINDER: NEXT WEEK THERE WILL BE NO KIDS CLASSES. We will resume with our new schedule the week of June 3. Please see a coach to sign your kids up (one or TWO times a week options!). Remember, for the summer months we have a new schedule, T/Th 2-2:45 ages 4-7, T/Th 3-3:45 ages 8-12.

-BCCF Kids Coaches

Body Awareness

During Tuesday's BCCF Kid's class, Coach Emily had some shapes on the floor for the game. The goal was to get the kids to work together to make the shape with their body and identify it. It's fun, a great learning tool, and also teaches one of the most important skills in CrossFit: Body awareness! Most of the time, kids (and adults) learn by replicating what the coach demonstrates. The kids especially will mimic exactly what we do. But it's also important for them to learn how to use their bodies, and in this case, how to move them to make a shape. Countless times as adults we have to ask a training buddy or coach "Was my chin over?" "Did I get deep enough in my squat?" (I had to ask this today!!!) "Was I locked out overhead?" When really, muscle memory should be kicking in and we should start becoming more aware of our bodies and positioning.

The kids did awesome making the shapes and we'll definitely be doing this again. The obstacle course was a blast. The kids did a great job remembering the order on their own and figuring out how to maneuver the ascending boxes.

We also began more gymnastics work with handstand/headstands and spiderman walks (aka wall walks). We'll continue to work on this as a skill, as well as pullup and ring work. I've seen some big improvements in jumping rope too, so thanks for practicing at home with the kids, it's showing!!!

**For the summer months we are changing the schedule. We will now offer a TWO times/week option. There are flyers up at the gym, but the class times will be T/Th 2-2:45pm for ages 4-7, and T/Th 3-3:45pm for ages 8-12. This will begin in June.**

-BCCF Kids Coaches

Annie

Tuesday in our regular group classes we did Annie. While doing some searching on the web I found this video of CrossFit New England's kids program doing Annie. It's pretty awesome! You can check it out here. We have been working on jump rope in class and it's for sure a tricky movement to master, for our adults too! Keep encouraging your kids to practice at home and it's a skill we will continue to work on throughout the summer. Pretty soon they will be doing triple unders ;)

I also came across this great article on kid nutrition; motivational ways to transform your child's eating. Check it out here. Here are some pics from Donna's class last week with the 8-12 y/o group.

-BCCF Kids Coaches

Form v. Intensity

Form v. Intensity. This is a discussion you will see over and over again in CrossFit. From CrossFit HQ, to CrossFit critics, members and coaches...is it OK to sacrifice form for intensity, and when is it OK? That's a discussion for another time,  but lets make it relevant to how we coach kids.

If you were watching the 8-12 year old class last Thursday the game was Musical Med Ball. It's similar to musical chairs, but we use (you guessed it) med balls instead of chairs. The kids went around the med balls in a circle while the music played (moving FAST, no mention of form here). When the music stopped they had to squat over a med ball. Most of the kids would just drop down fast without the greatest form....everyone wants to win, right? So if two kids tried to squat over the same med ball, here's where we challenged their form. They had to show Coach Emily 5 perfect air squats, and whoever had the better FORM stayed in the game. Good form=a reward. What was cool is that the other kids could tell who had better form and why. And the same kid who just plopped down quickly on the med ball, when encouraged to slow down, had great form!

You will see this theme a lot throughout our kids classes. We will mix quick/intense movements with slower ones, to show the kids when it's OK to move fast, and when you need to concentrate on form. Form will come with practice, and it's OK if they don't have the perfect push up, squat or overhead press right now....this is why you will also be seeing lots of bodyweight exercises or minimal load bearing exercises (light med balls/kettlebells/PVCs/dumb bells). Good form before adding load.
Here are some of my favorite pictures from the big kids class!

-BCCF Kids Coaches

Strong bones begin NOW

I've gotta say as a Kids coach, my favorite thing to see is the kids work up a sweat during class. There's nothing better than kids working hard but also having fun. Disguising fitness as a game is the best way to create the love of fitness in our youth. But exercise is more than just working up a sweat. Another great Time study shows that kids who exercise at a young age are less likely to have fractures in old age....Let's just not tell the kids that (I'm pretty sure I remember being a kid thinking wearing a cast was totally cool). Now? Not so much! :)

“According to our study, exercise interventions in childhood may be associated with lower fracture risks as people age, due to the increases in peak bone mass that occurs in growing children who perform regular physical activity,” lead author Dr. Bjorn Rosengren, of Skane University Hospital, said in a statement. “Increased activity in the younger ages helped induce higher bone mass and improve skeletal size in girls without increasing the fracture risk. Our study highlights yet another reason why kids need to get regular daily exercise to improve their health both now and in the future.”


Oh and take a guess what types of exercise the article reccommends? Running and jumping rope are a few suggestions, as is picking up weights...sounds similar to the CrossFit Kids perscription....


But don't let their fitness start and end at CrossFit. Encourage your kids to try new sports, spend more time outside, hike as a family.

Here are some pictures from the 4-7 year old class:

Learning and Play

REMINDER: If you missed a class this month, we will be having ONE makeup Saturday, April 27 at 11am (this is for all ages, 4-12 y/o)

This week with our 8-12 year olds we had them solve riddles post-WOD. While some might think sitting down and concentrating might prove difficult after running around like maniacs, it's actually the opposite. Physical activity helps children do better in school and aids with concentration. There are countless studies and articles out there proving this, but I happen to like this article in Time. In future months we might ask you to bring school or summer assignments with you to class so the kids can work on them post-WOD. For the younger kids we are focusing on journaling.

If you want to check out the riddles we solved in class, here they are (answers are below...don't peek!)

                              BCCF KIDS RIDDLES

1.     Here’s how you can change the word DOG to CAT by changing just ONE letter at a time:

DOG   DOT   COT   CAT

Now change PIG to HEN the same way

2.     The words SUN, SHOE, FLEE rhyme with THREE words often used together: ONE, TWO, THREE

Write a set of THREE related words that rhyme with CHOP, HIP, BUMP

3.     When do artists paint the best oceans?

4.     What do gingerbread men put on their beds?

5.     What are the smartest animals?

6.     Why couldn’t the pony talk? 

ANSWERS

      1. Answer: There might be different ways to solve, one example: PIG PIN PEN HEN

2 Answer:  HOP SKIP JUMP

3 Answer: When they’re feeling blue

4 Answer: Cookie sheets

5 Answer: Fish, because they travel in SCHOOLS

6 Answer: Because it was a little HORSE (HOARSE)