Anybody teaching their child to be "physicallly superb"?

[heyblue41]

We have been doing some of Doman's physically supeb program over the last year.  We are walking about 3 miles 2 to 3 times a week.  We run about one half mile throughout the walk.  I was wondering if there is anybody out there doing this too?  I wonder if anyone can recommend a shoe brand?  We have been using Nike shoes for the last year, but we need new ones.  I bought the last 2 pairs on sale from Nordstrom for about half price, but this year the selection for girls in the nike brand is not a running shoe.  I have contacted the IAHP and they gave me a couple ideas, but I was hoping to get input from someone who actually has used the shoes.  Since I have never taken their course, I cant acess the forum she got the info from.  Any suggestions?

By the way, Nordstrom has a good selection of boys shoes for running for about $26 versus the regular $60.

[octaviaorca]

that's incredible about the run/walk.  i have been really interested in trying that but have yet to read the book.  we try to make sure there are lots of physical activities around the house though.  one day i'll get to the book!

i would say in regards to shoes (and this is coming from someone who grew up with foot issues and as an athlete) make sure you get the kids fitted properly.  i know it's bad to go into a running store and get fitted and then go somewhere else to buy but if that's what the budget calls for the i would say do it!  you just really want to be sure their little peds are well supported in all the right ways.  pretty soon you will know what to spot on your own and you won't need 'experts' but until then i say hit a running specific store and have someone really look at your kids' feet.  feet are amazingly precious and can effect so many physical things in your body. 

good luck!

[purplefungi]

That's really awesome about the walking and running! It's so hard to find good shoes especially for toddlers.

I'm so excited that both of my sons like to hang now!

[hypatia]

Hi all
I thought I would bring this post back to life rather than starting a new one.
Daughter is 12 months and has been walking really well for a month now.
What do I do from now on? she often walks carrying an object in one hand. No more crawling. Loves climbing stairs..
How do I stimulate her according to Doman?

[waterdreamer]

Can you use this program with older children. Like someone who just turned 4, is it worth getting the book at this point?

[kmum]

Can you use this program with older children. Like someone who just turned 4, is it worth getting the book at this point?

This is just from memory, but I'm sure the upper age in the book is 6yrs.  Maybe you could see if it is available at the library & check it out before you buy it. It is also available 2nd hand through the net.

[Andrea H]

hi everyone,
my son is 4 yo and we have been doing the program since he is 2,5 months.
Hypatia: walking every day on different surfaces: grass, inclined plane, soft hillside (or the like), up down stairs, every day more steps, total vertical ladder, brachiation ladder, walking on a balance beam. When my son was 12 months old we started the running program, he was already walking preety well.
Waterdreamer: start heavily on brachiationa and gymnastics (balance beam). Do the primary human development program: creeping and crawling daily for 100 days, 100 linear meters for each.
Any questions just ask.
Andrea H.

[garry]

This terminology is confusing.
I have a 3 yr old daughter who is physically active.
she does cycling, running races with friends, walking etc she loves swimming and can cover about 4 laps - 25 m each independently with a life jacket, I plan to remove her jacket next year.
the prob is its often cold out here in India and we have an open pool in our apartment block so kids cant swim throughout the year,only for about 2 months.
what else can I do to stimulate her, she is brave and likes taking risks.
is professional gymnastic training right for this age?
If I plan to make her an athlete or professional swimmer, when n how do I begin?

[Andrea H]

Garry, all of what you are doing is OK, BUT the difference is to do it with a schedule. For instance: plan her running and increase it daily. This is a sort of physical programming, in a control way you are demanding more and more from the body, and thus, from the brain. You are giving the brain the message that the body is apt for more, and the brain develops in order to make the body apt for more.
At 3 yo the better exercises are for breathing control (running, walking, swimming), eye convergence (brachiation, crawling, creeping), development of laterality (running, sports that choose a side, eg. soccer, kicking with one leg, golfing, swing with your right). These give you three oportunities: control of breathing for better speach, development of visual convergence for better reading, development of laterality for full development of the brain.
About swimming, if I undersatnd correct she uses a life jacket. She doesn´t need it. Our body is prepared to swim since an early age, months of life, and the brain knows it.
It is not about taking risks, but about transmitting a message to your daughter, one that she believes in: your body is physically prepared if you develop it and care for it respectfully. A professional athlete is not only bold when trying new things, but aware of the close relationship between conciousness of one´s body and development of one´s capacities. 3yo is old enough to understand this and start practicing on it. In the "...Physically Superb" book there are exercises and schedules to follow. Also at the IAHP there are booklets you can buy about brachiation, swimming, gymnastics. etc. The foremost objective is organization, this will give you the oportunity to relax and enjoy meanwhile you are on top of the development.
Hope my advice claryfies it.

[waterdreamer]

Thanks for all the great info. I wish I knew how to get my son to hang from monkey bars. He's pretty brave, and I incourage him to move around independently at the park, as my mom held me back alot because of fear we'd hurt ourselves and I never caught up, but monkey bars just scare him even with me right under him. But I'm going to start working on it more.
I'm also trying to figure out how to keep him activite like this in the winter as our temperatures drop to the point where it is no longer safe to play outside. Plus he HATES the cold.
As for creeping and crawling, how could I accomadate that in a small apartment. Do you mean like army crawling?

[Andrea H]

Waterdreamer:
I got a brachiation ladder when my son was 1,5 yo, and he too was afraid. I have heard these before from other IAHP families. It took me patience and a few months to make him interested, instead of willing to try it. Here´s the secret, he must want to on his own, so I and my husband did it daily: it´s the only way. Also, I put stuffed animals on it and made them brachiate. I also used the wall by the brachiation pannel to put blackboards and whiteboards from him to use. Here´s a link to a web album from when we first got it: http://picasaweb.google.com/ahazbun/BrachiationArea02# (how we made brachiationa area fun!). I don´t know what to do when you don´t actually own a brachiation ladder, except visit the park or wherever everyday. Another plus of your own brachiation following the IAHP model is that you can lower or rise the ladder so the child can do it nearly touching the floor or high, with the help of a parent. The thing is simple (in theory) you do it so he copies, must be daily. Encourage him only to hang at first, or go up the side ladder (if therés one) or just stay by the area. The complicated thing ( in the practice) is to do these things that seem so simple, and keep on doing them after thay have failed (or so we think because our children don´t respond in the time we estipulate to be enough). This is why there´s such a high dropout %, because parents just stop trying. There is a booklet at the institutes that you can buy on line that you should get, it´s called "Brachiation".
In regards to PHD (creeping and crawling) they are meant to do in winter, when you are somehow restrained from doing most sports because of the weather. You can do it inside your own home (there´s also a booklet called "PHD"): mark, maybe with masking tape, a route around the house you can creep in all fours, and crawl on your tommy like a baby (or like in the army, as you say), that´s furniture free. Count 100 linear meters (I´m in South America so I go by meters, but transform them into feet). It can be repetitive, as in creeping around your dining room table four times ina a row is 45 linear meters. After that, start by short distances, the first day creep and after crawl (or the other way around) 50 linear meters, and it doesn´t have to be done all at once, maybe first 20 meters, then in the afternoon 30 more, or however it works best for your child, or all at once. Invent games , you have to do it too, and I tell you, the crawling for us adults is very difficult. You can be animals on the run, or snakes or spies running from a dangerous place or whatever. In a week you should have add up to 100 linear meters daily of each, and continue non stop 100 days. This plus brachiation is essential for good development of many things that lead to healthy laterality in eyes, extremities, etc.
If you have more doubts just ask.

[waterdreamer]

WOW first of all your area is AMAZING!
Thank you so much for the info. This really helps. What I started doing today is taking a broom stick and having him hang a foot off the ground while I hold it up. And we count to 5. Tomorrow I'll get him to go up to 10, and so forth. I'm hoping this will give him the confidence he needs.
For balaning can it just be a 2x4 on the ground or does it have to be raised. I'm limited with space.
I want to start walking longer distances with him. How many kilometres (or miles what ever is easier, i know both) should a 4 year old be able to do at once? We live in a 3 floor apartment, so come winter we will be doing the stairs alot. I figure doing all this will help me keep in shape too .
Are there any websites or blogs you can suggest, I have googled but have come up with very little.
Thanks so much!!

[Andrea H]

Waterdreamer,
I have found none good sites of info, apart from reading the book, the booklets (there is one for every thing, running, brachiation, etc) and joinig the IAHP forum, where you must have taken the courses. I strongly reccomend the book and booklets BECAUSE they explain the phylosophy behind and you get clarity to where YOU want to go with your child. That´s why IAHP doesnt have a curriculum, just suggested schedules.
Some advices so it actually works.
1. Have a binder with a section of each thing you are doing. Ex: brachiation and running. Write down EVERY day what you did. Why? In the long run you get the feeling you are not doing anything, because the results in a boy that´s 4yo will take longer than on a bay. If you actually can read what you did every day, you can build on it. Ex: 5 ways of trying to get him not to be afraid on brachiation, didn´t work. Maybe I can combine ways #3 and 4, for instance.
2. DON´T STOP. If after 1 or 2 weeks it´s too much for you, cut it down 50%. Be honest, if you are capable of continuing and you are cranky it´s no good anyway. Trust me, start slow. After a while you are so organize and it´s so part of your day, you don´t even feel it, and you are ready to move on to something more challenging. Rememeber it´s a work of YEARS.
3. Talk only positive to your child and always the truth: the better his awareness and control of his own body, the more independent he his. That´s the ultimate objective, not beating so and so in running or mastering brachiation 120%, because throughout time they will develop their tastes and liking, and maybe running won´t be one of them. If he is not guided correctly and this happens, this will be added to his negative experiences in his self esteem department, BUT if it was positive, even if he stops running he will build on it: I know my body better, I know my limits better, I know I can concentrate and achieve whatever.
4. From the beginning be clear with rules: they are ready to follow them even at months old. Never it is good to let them do some things because they are too small to do what they are really supposed to afterwards when they are older: before running you HAVE to warm up, if he has a tantrum because of this, well...that day the PRIVILEGE of running is taking away.
It´s not easy, you will develop self awareness of your brain development as well as you do the program. It´s a path of guiding and setting free, guiding again and setting free again, and so on. For this there can not be a curriculum programed. Spend the money on the books, I think you can buy them online.

[waterdreamer]

Thats very helpful. I had taken the book out from the library a long time ago but never really got into it because I felt that if I couldn't have everything in there that Doman reccomended then it wasn't going to work. Now I see how other mom's are doing it and realize we can do this. Were going to start a joural and record everything. As for the booklets did you contact IAHP for those, I could not find it on their site.
Right now were walking/running every day, how do you gage how long you've been running/walking? How long should I be running/walking with him and when should I up it. To get him use to brachiation, but putting him up on the monkey bars at the park and having him count while he holds himself up, today we made it to 45seconds. He may have been able to go longer but I don't want to push him too far to fast.
Thank-you! Do you write a blog? If not you should it would be helpful for mom's like me

[Andrea H]

Waterdreamer,
the booklets are sold in the alumni forum site. You should contact IAHP by mail so they can send you a catalogue with prices.
About your question on how much and how long to walk and run, there´s a schedule in the book, BUT I never followd it. I did my own schedule, based on the program, because for me the physical part had to be more intense.
When my son was 6 months old we would do baby circuit, where he would creep 45 minutes to an hour straight, twice a day, in a race. He loved it for me to chase him so I pushed him hard to go fast and not stop.
At 6 months he stood up, and I made him walk holding onto furniture the whole day, I never passed him anything, e.g. ball, but I put it close to his reach.
At 2 yo we would walk Mon thru Fri 2 hours daily. If I could not achieve it, my minimum was 3 times a week.
We also started running at this age.
Now that he is 4 yo, running 1 hour non stop, and walking 18 holes nonstop in the golf course, carrying his own bag AND playing the course.
We don´t walk every day and we don´t run every day, because now we are focused to PHD and golfing exercises every day. So golfing (walking) is twice a week and running is once a week. Lately we have started hiking (something that I use to do) with him, on relatively easy hills and mountains, and that would be once every 10 days.
So, when you are doing a specific exercise (e.g. running) it has to be every day. When you are ready to move on to something new, that exercise you do it once a week or freely, without scheduling, and the new exercise you do every day.
At 4 yo your son should focus on developing laterality.  Choose a place to run (I have to do it on the street or in a park). Test him on how much endurance he has, and set that as the minimum. (500 meters?) Make sure he runs that distance well, which means correct arm movement, leg movement, and breathing. Make him discover his own tempo, and respect his pace from beginning to end. Do it for a week. When you see he is about to achieve comfort in that distance, increase it. DO IT WITH HIM!
Walking is much easier for him, but he should too do it physically correct. At that age, I think he should be able to achieve walking 1 hour non stop in short time. Then 1,5 hrs to 2 hrs.
Brachiation is OK to hang. Make the goal 2 minutes and then move to 5 minutes. It´s hard! Also make him swing (like primates do) so he starts practicing the movement.
Don´t be afraid to push him, but you will need to explain carefully what is required of him. Be sensible to off days, sickness, tiredness and laziness. You will have to learn to differenciate. Also, let him choose things (abiding by the rules) e.g. where to run to, run or walk first, what clothes to wear, etc. This will start making him responsible for his own program. give him rewards for his achievements (not toys, candy, or buying something) but giving him more independence: cooking the family Sunday lunch, becoming responsible of the dishwasher, taking care 100% if his closet, whatever is really needed inside the house.
It will start turning into a way of living, rather than just a physical program.

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