Teenagers: you can’t beat them and you can’t beat them up. If any of you have your own, you know what I’m talking about.
I have a plan to put them in their place and get a little respect, read on…
Recently my kids and I went on a little holiday to Huntington Beach, Ca. It was the day after my dog died that I impulsively booked a hotel and flights to take off with them for 5 days. I realized that the fall was approaching and our schedules would be full. There’d be little time for hanging out and chilling together.
It’s funny how death can make you want to live more. Only dog or pet lovers out there will understand the loss felt when your pet dies. Desi was my best friend through two of the most difficult years in my life and I felt a huge sense of loss with his passing, I still do in fact. But with his loss, I realized that my kids are growing up so fast, I don’t want to lose a minute of fun times with them.
So, I was not in a great state of mind when booking the trip, good intentions and all. I think I mentioned in an email that the hotel pick was less than stellar, but the trip was great fun all the same. I fulfilled the purpose of it: we laughed our faces off, poor lodgings and all.
One of the highlights for me was training with my kids. This is where it was fun to ‘teach a lesson’ to my kids, give them a ‘spanking’ of sorts. You have to understand my kids though. They probably aren’t the normal garden-variety sort. They grew up in a home that had a better home gym than furniture for years, one where a workout was never missed and healthy food was always on the table. I tried my best to encourage them into healthy habits versus stuff the whole ‘healthy living’ thing down their throats. I truly believe that the key to making kids want to be healthy is to make it their idea, or give them a purpose in doing so. It’s worked for my kids anyway.
Back to ‘the lesson’….
Sam is 15 and has recently taken up lifting in earnest. He’s looking to play high school football and lifts weights to gain strength and size. We connect when we talk training. At home, we don’t have much opportunity to train together, but on holiday it was a different story. We decided it was a back day for both of us and it was on.
I had a secret satisfaction in kicking his butt. I keep telling him that conditioning is everything, especially once two-a-days in football training starts, so it’s best to incorporate a little HIIT with our set. We went heavy and fast for this workout.
This is what we did:
5 timed sets of 40 seconds work/10 seconds to move:
- Low cable rows
- Pull ups or TRX low rows (Sam did one set of pull ups and then went to the low row)
- Jump rope (where Sam not-so-secretly cursed me out for whipping himself…see what I said about beating up your kids without beating them with your bare hands? He actually beat himself up 😉
Then 3 sets, same timing:
- Cable pulley pull over
- One arm dumb bell dead lift
- One arm dumb bell dead lift (other arm)
We finished with 3 sets of:
- Barbell curls
- Dumb bell turned out curls
Done and done. We were both a hot mess. Good times.
From there it was onto the beach and biking. The waves were a little too much for surfing for us this time around, so we didn’t venture into the surf much. There were plenty of laughs all around and sadly Sam still had the energy to torment his sister. Tell me, will that ever end?
Whether you’re training with your kids or by yourself, you need a plan. I’ve got you covered. Whether you’re in a gym or need to do straight up body weight training, I’ve got you covered. And if you can incorporate TRX suspension training into your workout, I’ve got you covered there too.
Get my workouts and if at all possible, find a teenager near you and teach ‘em a lesson 😉
The good news is that I’ve decided to extend my sale over the weekend. It’s Labor Day and I wanted to give those folks a break that contacted me that they missed out this week. So grab my program for only $19.99 along with three extra bonuses before midnight on Monday, Sept 3rd.
