Help please

I am looking for honest opinions on what I should do. I have an 11 year old son that I am trying to get active. This is not the typical dad who wants his son to be the best at everything , I just want him to be healthy and not lagging so far behind. He is not obese and barely overweight but he is very lazy and doesn't want to move at all. Am I wrong to push him ? I set the wrong example early and I take the blame for where he is. What would you guys do ? Push or just set the example now and hope he follows?

I'm experiencing the same thing with my son.
However what I have tried to do recently is make exercise fun for him.  I'm not above bribing the hell out of him either.  If it makes him active and helps his health, I'll do it. 

I would say push, but make it fun, make it something he likes.  If you can find an activity that he likes, then run with that.  Make it something that doesn't seem like exercise for the purpose of exercise.

My son does like riding his bike, so I have started taking him on small rides 5-10 miles at his pace.  He also likes to swim in the pool, so we keep him signed up for swim lessons each session.

He even won a bike computer at the opening of a local bike store, so I hooked it up on his little kid bike the other day.  He loves it, but now he is a menace, because he spends more time watching that than he does the road.  I try to make a treat out of it.  I'll pack us a picinic and got him his own water bottle etc. 

I took him to a kids only triathlon to watch that.  He seems really interested and the talks about dad doing them to his friends.  I'm trying to make them fun.

I took him on a 5k walk/run last year.  The owner of our local Triathlon store gave me one of his old finishers medals from a triathlon to give to my son.  He thought it was absolutley great.

Good luck with this, and please share any suggestions or solutions you find.

Scott

 My 10 and 13 year old are excited about the prospect of running a 5k with me.  I think you have to push a bit, but the idea of beating ole Dad ought to movitvate them at some point :)  

Dealing with kids and laziness is hard! My oldest is a teenager now (16) and tends to want to play the computer games etc. He is overweight/obese. Unfortunately he's living with his father (who is also MO now). I tried bribery, etc. didn't work. I'd push some, but make it fun. How about a tag football game with him and some of his friends? or one on one basketball? how about a game of street hockey? camping and hiking? I figure even if it isn't going for a run, getting him up and active is the more important part. Buy him a cheap camera and see how many local waterfalls you can discover.

That's a tough one. I have three kids; my gorls are very active. All three kids have their black belts in taekwondo. The middle on is playing competitive soccer as well. My oldest however, he's a different story.

I pushed him at taekwondo and that backfired. he ended up quitting for over a year. He went back, but never got the motivation or drive that his sisters have for sure. He played basketball a bit and is now trying football.

The important thing is to find something that he enjoys. My daughter and I have run together and she totally beats my butt, and badly every time! That makes her smile! It's ok to push, but not too much. Would he like martial arts? Great exercise and good discipline as well! :)
Good luck trying to figure this one out.

Jet

Hey Nate,

I just posted something to this effect on another thread but I will rephrase it here. Think back to when we were young. We didnt have all the video games, computers, ipods, iphones etc... We went out and PLAYED! Look around your neighborhood, how many kids are outside playing? Chances are , not many. I think this is the corelation between obesity and frustration / hopelessness. So here is my recommendation. Don't tell him, lets go run, let's for a bike ride, lets fo excercise. Ask him to come throw the ball with you and purposely accidentally throw it over is head every once in a while to make him get it. Play tag! Go to the playground and goof around, get a trampoline and jump with him, take him to a bounce house and let him goof around. Most importantly set the example and show that being fit IS FUN! Since WLS I have coached my sons tball team, soccer team, and flag football team. It has been a blessing for both of us, and has given some health benefits as well.

At the end of the day, every person has their own agency or freedom to choose, all we can do is set a good example, instill good habits and behaviors, and then they have to fly on their own. Stay positive, and PRAISE the little guy for every big and small accomplishment.. Give him a taste of success and odds are he will crave more. Best of luck.

It's your time to work things out for him. It would be best if you will have a father-son workout. Bring him to an interesting place that would wake his interest in doing so, he might probably engaged in different activities that requires ability to move quickly. Just be sure that he'll enjoy the activity  because if he wont then you should try another activity.