Duey Flanigan

Back to School

Back to School

Good day, Citizens!  It’s back to school time, and you know what that means: less play time!  It’s unfortunate, but it’s true.  Schools are cutting back on physical education classes, and it gets harder and harder to motivate your kids to do any kind of physical activity because they’re not accustomed to it.  It’s enough to make a super hero give up.

But fear not!  With the cooler weather comes more opportunity and motivation to get your children outside!  If you are a football fan, take your kids tailgating with you and bring a football (or baseball, or soccer ball).  It doesn’t have to be the same sport you are there to watch; just bring something physical to do while waiting.

With cooler weather also comes a lot of running races/walks.  Why not find one that supports a worthy cause in your area and get your children to do a one-mile run/walk with you?  You can teach them about charity as well as get in shape.  The best part is that you can do it together!  Or, if your child is competitive, you can even race them on the big day.  Just be fair; if he’s only seven years old, maybe give him a head start or sprint to the finish.  You can teach him about losing in a positive way!  We have one user here who ran his first race and came in second place (first boy).  He was upset because someone else came in first!  It took a little while to calm him down and then he realized how many people he actually beat and he felt much better.  It was sad though to see him so upset despite such a great accomplishment (he was only seven years old at the time).

So use the “it’s too hoooooot” excuse while you can; it won’t be long before you’ll have to chuck that out the window and there won’t be any excuses – at least for a few weeks – no matter where you live!

 

Skating for Fitness

I went skating with a group of kids the other day, and it was great fun!  I remember when I went skating every weekend, sometimes twice.  It was a long time ago, and I was pretty good at it back then, but I still enjoy getting out there sometimes.

On this day I noticed how much fun everyone was having - young and old, fast or slow, newbie or old pro.  Whatever the skill level, everyone was having a blast and moving to the music.

Here is a video of some of the people there, and their skill levels.  If you fall somewhere in between, maybe you should go skating sometime soon.  It's a great way to beat the heat if you can do it indoors.  Of course, you'll have to endure the occasional song you really don't like, but that's time to get water, right?  Enjoy!

Kinect: Excellent for Indoor Exercise!

Good day, citizens!  I apologize for being so out of touch lately, but I've been trying to find new and exciting ways to stay active while staying indoors.  It's not easy!

The most fun I've had though is playing with my new Kinect for Xbox 360.  I'm sure you've heard of this thing; you stand in front of your TV and play a game and look like a fool.  The fun part is that there is no controller, and because of that the games are very active.  You can work up a sweat before you know it.

You've probably heard of a lot of the adult games - things like Zumba, UFC Training, and Fighters Uncaged.  But most of the games are for kids and they require a lot of jumping around - which means you are exercising!  I'm sure your children are just as interested in the Zumba routines as playing Fruit Ninja, and that's OK too - but nothing beats slicing up a bunch of fruit like a ninja!  Many games will allow you to download the trial version so you can try them out before you buy them.  The games aren't as intense and some of the features may be disabled, but they are good for 5-10 minute spurts of fun.  And, many of these are single-player, so it's just enough time to watch a sibling play and catch your breath before your next turn comes up.  The trials are free so you don't have to pay until you decide you want the full version.  Who likes to exercise for free?  I do!

Now that many children are heading back to school, hopefully they will have physical education classes to get a little exercise in during the day.  But if not, if you have a Kinect, try getting them to play some games on that.  It's guaranteed to make them work up a sweat (despite being indoors) and get some exercise!

Do You Have a Pack? Do You Need One?

I'm not talking about a backpack; I'm talking about a six-pack!

Greetings, Citizens!  Today I'm going to talk about six packs.  Not the kind you drink, silly; the kind that makes you look all buff and stuff.  Because, you know, everybody wants one.  Right?

The truth is, you don't have to have perfect six-pack abdominal muscles to look healthy.  Are they a nice added bonus to being fit?  You betcha.  But not having them is not a big deal.  The truth is, to have abs of steel, you have to have very little body fat.  And that's not always a good thing.

Some people are naturally lean and can achieve six-pack-abs with very little effort.  Others among us have a harder time getting rid of any excess fat and so while we may be quite fit, we don't get the definition in some places that other people do.  This is not a big deal and should not bother you at all.  

Some of the kids in our group were talking the other day about their "packs".  They all want to show off their six-packs, and who can blame them?  The problem is we're talking about 6-10 year-olds here, and it's a lot more complicated than that.  Children this age are still developing muscles and may not have the definition they so desire.  Some kids may have the top two abs show up really well, while the rest of it doesn't look as nice.  Still other kids are still just working on keeping the excess fat off and don't have any kind of definition at all.

When your children come to you and ask how you got your six-pack abs (because I know you have them, right?), tell them you worked long and hard on them.  Tell them it takes years of dedication of eating right and exercising, and the muscles will form.  Explain that it's hard work and not everyone will ever have that kind of muscle tone.  Tell them it really doesn't matter how much of a "pack" they have - the point is to enjoy trying to achieve it - but only if they want to!

Stay Cool!

Hello Citizens!

I hope you're finding a way to stay cool and still be active this summer!  Did you all have a great Fourth of July?  I spent that time with my family, as Duey Flanigan (not as Broccoli Man).  It was a nice change, playing with my niece and cousins.  I even managed to find some time to go canoeing!

During these lazy days of summer, remember that although you should exercise, you don't have to over-do it.  If you feel like you're getting too hot, stop what you're doing!  If your body "feels funny" in any way, take a breather.  Get a cold drink, popsicle, or even a little ice cream.  Keeping your body cool is important for health, just as much as staying active!

Here are some tips on what to do to prevent overheating:

• play in the shade
• play indoors if you can
• play outdoors during the coolest part of the day
• keep plenty of cool drinks on hand
• dress appropriately for the weather
• rest from time to time

There are plenty of things you can do to stay cool, but if you can't play in the water, these tips should help you prevent getting too hot.

Play hard, but stay safe!

But, It's Hoooooot!

Are you having trouble getting your kids outside to play already?  There's a heat wave in the South, with temperatures over 100 degrees in some places.  If your kids don't want to play outside, Broccoli Man has a suggestion for you!

 

Duey Flanigan's Journey (pt 2)

Here is part 2 of how Duey Flanigan became a super hero!

 

Duey Flanigan Becomes a Super Hero!

Check out part one of how Duey became a super hero.  He wasn't always fit as a fiddle!

 

Who Needs a Super Hero?

Remember when you were a kid, and you had your favourite super hero?  It may seem like a long time ago, and it may have been one of your parents, but I bet you had one.  Batman, Superman, even Spiderman or the Hulk were great heroes.  Now that you're all grown up, who's your hero?

Now that you have your own children, do you know who their super heroes are?  Do they only have one, or do they have a few, so they can draw from the correct one for the situation?  Are YOU their super hero sometimes?  I'm sure you are, even if you don't know it.  If you're not, maybe we can fix that.

Duey Flanigan is like Peter Parker or Bruce Banner, or Clark Kent.  He's a regular guy, very unassuming.  In fact, you'd actually think of him as a skinny kid if you thought of him at all.  The great thing is that when the going gets tough, he turns into Broccoli Man.  The reason he's "skinny" is because really, he's just not "fat".  Look around you today, and most people are "fat" based on the standards I grew up with (read: I am over 40; if you grew up in the 70s and 80s, people were "supposed" to be thin, or at least healthy-looking).  Nowadays, if a girl doesn't have a muffin top, she's not attractive.  Personally, I don't get that, but I would never question what a man wants.  But as usual, I digress...

Why is Duey Flanigan a super hero?  Because he used to be a fat guy.  As in, really fat.  As in, he used to get picked on, on the playground.  Nobody wanted to play with him, nobody wanted to be his partner at school or work.  In fact, nobody paid much attention to him at all.  One day he finally had enough, and he started getting fit, and the rest is history!

Where does Duey Flanigan fit into your life?  He may not.  But, I bet your children are familiar with an overweight kid at school, who gets picked on (maybe it's them, maybe it's just someone they know).  I'd bet that even if they are the ones doing the picking on occasion (peer pressure!), at other times they feel really sorry for the fat kid.  I bet your child has had an occasion when they've been embarrassed about something they did in public once.

If they are familiar with this, then Duey can help them become a better person.  They can eat better (with your help!).  They can get more exercise (maybe with your help, but I'd bet if you chased them around the yard, they would really appreciate it).  They can get more rest (definitely with your help, as it's your job to get them to bed on time).  They can become more responsible (are you sensing a pattern here?  They'll need your help with this too).  Obviously, by "Duey" I mean YOU can help them become a better person.

So let Duey Flanigan help you become a super hero: go out and play with your kids.  Feed them healthy foods, and make sure they get plenty of rest.  Reward them with whatever you want to (more of your time maybe?), even a cape!  Your kids need someone to look up to, and Duey Flanigan can help that person be you - at least some of the time!

Healthy Competition to Promote...Health!

Does your school compete with other schools in your area for different events?  Do you compete with other classes to see who can get the most box tops or soup labels?  If you do, then you'll love Duey Flanigan!

Duey Flanigan is a gaming site where children compete against others and themselves to see who gets the most exercise.  The best part is that everybody wins, because everyone works toward earning badges by active play.  If your child plays outside, you can log their time into the site and as they gain play time, they earn badges based on activity.  If they play organized sports, you can log their time and build up to earn the baseball badge, the football badge, or the soccer badge (or all three!).

Children can create teams with other kids or their school and set up competitions between them to see who can play the most kickball in a given amount of time, or which school has the most jump-ropers, etc.  Nobody loses because everyone is getting exercise.

We are still developing the site, but if you would like to be one of our beta testers, we'd love for you to sign up here.  Or, if you want to help us design the site, please take our survey here.