It truly is amazing at the amount of energy that kids have. Since the beginning of the summer my wife has been on a health kick trying to workout and keep in shape. Kyler and Branson our children with CF both have been given incentives to try and run every night with their mom. The concept is this:
We have a course that they run in which 6 laps is roughly a mile. We let them run for 15 minutes and based on the number of laps they get some money.
If the boys get 6 laps they get $1.00
If the boys get 7 laps they get $1.50
If they get 8 laps they get $2.00
If they get 9 laps they get $3.00
If they get 10 laps they get $5.00
This is not really a whole lot of money but after a week of doing this (they do it 3-5 time a week) the money really starts to add up. They get to spend the money on stuff to do this summer like video games, vacation, additional clothes, additional shoes really just about anything they want.
The absolutely amazing thing is that lately after they run they beg to go out and ride their bikes. So now when we go running we also bring their bikes along and they will ride for an additional 45 minutes or so. (Little to they know that this is also exercise)...
Since running we have really started to notice a difference in the quality of their breathing and how much easier it is for them to do exercise. I remember about a year ago when Carolyn used to take them for walk over 20-30 minutes they used to get winded just walking, now they will run and play all afternoon and then go and do the run and it does not even phase them.
We have heard in plenty of places how much exercise really helps CF patients with increased heart and lung function. We hope that this pays off. On average both boys run roughly 1.5 miles in the 15 minutes which I think is pretty good. I will most days offer incentives or adders for hard work. If they get 10 laps I'll give in a little kicker. I will try to post some pictures of their running soon.
Well off for now. I've got another meeting to attend. This should be a fairly slow Friday due to a company party this afternoon at 1pm.
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2 comments:
Hey I was going to write about this today!! Guess you beat me to it!
Great post and great ideas for your boys with CF. Our son has CF as well, unfortunely he was not diagnosed until he was 6 years old.
He has some damage to his smaller airways already due to the fact of being misdiagnosed for so long.
I will surely check back and see how your kids are doing!
Carey from MI
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