Starting them young!

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wellthenwhat
wellthenwhat Posts: 526 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am planning to take my son for a several day bike ride on my vacation, so we went for a trial run. This 6 year old just biked 50 miles on the Katy Trail all on his own power.

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  • XshakyX
    XshakyX Posts: 193 Member
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    AWSOME.
  • 2011rocket3touring
    2011rocket3touring Posts: 1,346 Member
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    Parenting done right.
  • Tazzie0208
    Tazzie0208 Posts: 66 Member
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    that's awesome! your son is a trooper!! keep it up mom! :)
  • XshakyX
    XshakyX Posts: 193 Member
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    Me & my two boys ride the mountains all the time youngest is six the oldest is 13. We usually do a 12mile round trip through rough terrain. As far as cardio I don't think you can ever start them to young. My oldest just started lifting on a regular basis not long ago.
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
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    Love this! My son and I train together on the weekends. :)
  • Penthesilea514
    Penthesilea514 Posts: 1,189 Member
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    Not just starting them young, but building awesome family memories :)
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
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    Tell that to the competitive gymnasts who spend hours in the gym from a very early age. I think my body developed properly. You just need to be careful.
  • XshakyX
    XshakyX Posts: 193 Member
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    Macy9336 what u are saying has truth to it. But she did say a several day trip.
  • Macy9336
    Macy9336 Posts: 694 Member
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    moldlife wrote: »
    Macy9336 what u are saying has truth to it. But she did say a several day trip.

    She said she's "planning a several day trip" and that he'd "just done 50 miles" on a "trial run" so I took it as 50miles in one go (run)...
    If the 50 miles was split over several days, that's less concerning.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    Hopefully this has been discussed with OP pediatrician.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    I was five the first time I walked 20 miles in one day. I see no reason why we shouldn't encourage five year olds to ride bicycles fifty miles.

    I would love to ride the whole Katy Trail, but I haven't found anyone who wants to go with me and I haven't decided if I want to mess with a bike on the train or just park at one end and try to ride it in both directions in one week.
  • JenniMc1975
    JenniMc1975 Posts: 1 Member
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    Fifty miles in one day? I have a six year old and the child is pure, unadultured energy. He's been on a 10 mile bike and I thought that was plenty for him.

    As for gymnastics, I was competitive until 13 and I know it did damage to my joints. I don't think very young bodies should be pushed quite that hard but if his pediatrician says otherwise then have at it.
  • MyFreakingNameIsScott
    MyFreakingNameIsScott Posts: 199 Member
    edited May 2017
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    My two used to do plank competitions while waiting to see the doctor. They were 3 and 6 at the time. Now the College Sophomore comes home in summer and is on the treadmill, doing planks and push-ups in our basement and the Sophomore in HS would rather walk than get a ride and is ripped...now if I could just get him to trim his hair.
  • wellthenwhat
    wellthenwhat Posts: 526 Member
    edited May 2017
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    For those worried, his pedi isn't. It was flat, he has a super light bike, and we took breaks. Started at 8:00am, finished at 4:00pm, had ice cream, and he was running around and splashing in the pool at his cousin's house that evening, didn't even go to bed early. His only complaint? His butt hurt. He's been out biking with me since he was a year old in a carrier, was riding a bike without training wheels at 3, and was riding with me in a weehoo from 4. The push to 50 miles was his choice, and he was energetic enough to want to climb to the top of the bluff on top of it. It was a difficult bike ride, even for him, but it's not new for him to go that hard or long, he's just faster now. He is truly one of the wildest, most energetic, crazy kids I've ever seen, taking him for adventures like this is how we stay sane.
  • wellthenwhat
    wellthenwhat Posts: 526 Member
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    TimothyFish wrote: »
    I was five the first time I walked 20 miles in one day. I see no reason why we shouldn't encourage five year olds to ride bicycles fifty miles.

    I would love to ride the whole Katy Trail, but I haven't found anyone who wants to go with me and I haven't decided if I want to mess with a bike on the train or just park at one end and try to ride it in both directions in one week.

    I think it would be fun to do bike and train! Kinda hard with my road train (big bike, bike trailer(weehoo used to be for kiddo, now for cargo), plus kid bike)

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