Jeremy:
So one of the things that often we have to struggle with as dads is we get overwhelmed. And one of the first things to go is exercise. And oftentimes you think to yourself, well, that’s just the cost of this season of family life. But one of the problems that can really begin to emerge very quickly is that for a lot of guys, this is an area where you really start to break down if you don’t have areas where you can really physically exert yourselves. I started to have these excuses about exercising and I just noticed over time, it was just having an impact on me emotionally, spiritually. And I know one thought that really helped me understand where this fit in my life is the idea that if you can’t get out of your mind, get into your body.

And I was finding myself getting just trapped in mental loops, emotional loops, and really exerting myself physically would pop me out of that state. And so I found it just really absolutely crucial. It wasn’t even the physical health that drove me to be a little bit more disciplined, but it was really realizing that this has made me a much more healthy person. And I want to be that person for my work and for my family. But this can be tough to do as you’re building a family. So I want to go back and forth with Jeff real quick and ask, okay, how do you get exercise as a family team? Because one of our prescriptions to you guys, you hear us talk about a lot is if you find that you don’t have time to do something, maybe the answer is to integrate it into the family as opposed to just drop it completely.

And so one idea that we’ve tried to do to try to integrate exercise into family is we got really into different racket sports. We were into tennis for a while, now we’re getting into pickleball, which is awesome. Jeff and I are both from the Northwest where this amazing sport originated. It is taking over all the way here in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. We’ve got pickleball courts. I didn’t even know this until a friend of mine told me. So I went out to Costco, bought the paddles and we’ve been hanging out there as a family. And man, you get a really good workout in 30 to 60 minutes. And even Kaira, she’s 10, she is really learning how to play. It’s a really simple game, and so that’s one example of how to integrate family and do something that’s a little bit on the exercise cardio side. Jeff, what are you guys trying to figure out how to do this?

Jeff:
Yeah, I love that. And we love pickleball, so that’s such a good one. Since we have toddlers one that I would say that’s helpful for us is go for walks. Now that’s like the elderly version of exercise, right? Like what old people do. But it is true, there’s something about just movement per day, right? So there’s a difference … for me, I usually have to get up early and go to the gym and stuff like that. At least with the stage the kids are in, they’re not going to be pumping iron and lifting weights or whatever, but like you said, I want it to be integrated. Here’s a better way to put it, us going for walks is the thing that I think sets the tone for our family to know that this, getting outside, being healthy, getting fresh air, caring about our bodies is important.

So it’s more like the foundational piece that gives them that tone so that then they can build on that the rest of their lives like, oh, this is just something we do. We just get outside. We are active, we sweat, we’re healthy. And that’s actually one of our pillars on our mission and vision thing. And walks by the way are not just for exercise, but I think they are a key to a family team. Going on family walks or just strolling and meandering around is connecting. There’s always … that’s always been dreaming and vision happens. It’s when the spouses have a lot more of an intimate moment to just catch up. It’s just like this break. You get away from the screens and you get away from the home and you have this shock in the day of, it’s different. And man, it has 10 basically different benefits and one of those is exercise. So that’s what I would say for sure, is going on walks.

Jeremy:
Yeah. And you guys aren’t runners, right? You don’t do the jogging thing?

Jeff:
No, no, no. I’ll just take my electric skateboard or my electric bike all day. That’s my version of a run. If it has a motor, that’s my run.

Jeremy:
All right. So that’s number two. Number three, a third idea is a lunchtime workout with one of the kids. And so this only works, of course, if you live close to home, but I worked only about eight minutes away from my house. And so I would go home, grab one of the kids and then do a workout in the middle of the day. I found this to be extremely helpful for me to refresh. So I just took that lunch hour and I would take one of the kids to the gym with me or I do something else with them, and so really try to get a workout in. And that helped me hit the reset button right in the middle of the day. So that’s a third idea. Do you have a fourth one for us?

Jeff:
Yeah. A fourth one is … it’s kind of a cousin of a couple we’ve said, but just to say it outright as pick an activity that’s active, that doesn’t feel like you’re working out with your kids. And so I would say the two for us is swimming and basketball. Like going to the ocean, going for a swim, going to the beach. I know not everyone can do that, we can even do that in December, I’m sorry. Or going out in the driveway. I just got a basketball hoop for my birthday, but Alyssa … it’s funny, even Alyssa said, when she got it for my birthday, she said it was for us as a family. So it’s just funny that we even see it like that, that activities are meant to be played together. And so she got it for me on my birthday, but then every day since then, we’ve been out in the driveway playing and the kids have been shooting and we’ve been running around. So something like that. Think of something where it basically feels more like a game that you know you’re just being active in. And especially again with younger kids, that’s usually the easiest best way to go for sure.

Jeremy:
Yeah. And the last one I’ll say is to find a coach and some activity that you do two evenings a week. So we did this with TaeKwonDo, I know people that do this with CrossFit. We had a PT coach that … we did that for a season as a family, but to actually carve out maybe a couple of evenings and this could be right after work or right before dinner, right after dinner or something like that where you guys can … And we like to do this a little before dinner, but just go straight to someplace where there’s an activity going on, that you can all participate as a family that crosses all those age groups. So those are … I want to give you guys some quick pop ideas for how, if you find that you need exercise to get out of your mind and into your body to do that with your family can help you really get through some hard seasons as a dad, but can also help you really build that culture, that team culture and help you have a coaching opportunity with your kids.