Quality Time

Exercise is so important to all of us, and for me personally makes me feel SO much better.

One of the best ways to get in shape quickly or burn off some major calories is to do an interval workout. I have the perfect interval workout for working parents looking for quality time with their kids.

It's called "Catch Me If You Can!"

My son is now 6 years old, and he is a very fast bike rider. One of our rituals is for him to ride his bike while I run with him. We are both extremely competitive so we typically have a game around our neighborhood on who is catching who.

Whether I am sprinting to catch up, jogging while he sneaks up, or sprinting to stay ahead, I imagine my speeds fluctuate enough to get a pretty challenging workout in. Justin, on the other hand, is pretty fresh by the end of his ride as he says "Optimist Prime" (his bike-also known as an Autobot from the movie Transformers) is doing all the work.

When you don't have as much quantity time with your children the quality time becomes that much more important. My workout with my soon to be 2 year old, Brooklyn, is sprinting after her when she puts a crayon in her mouth, crunches while she is sitting on me, or just LOTS of dancing.

My assistant coach's wife was sitting with us at team camp this weekend and said she needed to get more "play dates" with our kids because her daughter Camryn (3 years old) always gets a good workout in. She said this as I am giving the start signal for the kids to sprint from baseline to baseline.

I didn't really realize how active our kids were although I did clock my son in our house once when he was 2, and he ran for 45 minutes straight. Maybe they'll be Olympians.

Regardless, I am blessed to know I will be staying in shape at least until they graduate.

Coach Bin