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Fitness Family - It's Not Just for Mom & Dad

FITNESS FAMILY I just dropped my twelve-year old son off at the gym. He goes every second day for tennis lessons – and then every other day for matches. But that’s beside the point. The interesting thing for me is that he is twelve and I am taking him to HIS gym – a place separate from my own. Add to this that my wife heads off to her women's only gym each day too. Plus, we have a treadmill at home, weight bench, weights, mats, strength cords, etc. I cannot believe how much fitness and fitness-related activities have become such a massive part of our lives. When my kids whine (and believe me they do, a lot) it’s often along the lines of “Are you and mom going to the gym AGAIN?” Fitness Family for the New Millenium My parents never went to a gym – or really ever exercised formally in any way. We did tons of stuff together. We played sports, rode bikes, games, ran, jumped, playgrounds, what have you but the idea of a gym or a trainer was simply non-existent to us. For years my dad worked at jobs that were both physical and tough on the body. He didn’t need cardio and weight training. He got them at work. And mom had way less labour saving devices helping her out at home the way we do now. But it was also different then. The suggestion that you needed to run like some hamster in a wheel was mocked and laughed at. Who did that sort of thing, except maybe some Hollywood celebs and the odd body-building fitness weirdo? Nobody – that’s who. And that reality wasn’t so long gone in the rear-view either. I listened to ex-CFLer Jay Christiansen explain that not only did he fail to weight...

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