Stop Running!
“Stop running in the house!” Some days I sound like a broken record. Running in the house is just one of those things that I can’t tolerate. Oh come on, don’t judge me. We all have our thing, ha. I just think running is a safety hazard. My son has split his head open not once, but twice, on our kitchen island from running. Most of the times he gets hurt actually stem from the fact that he was running indoors. I also think it’s just rude and disrespectful. It’s just loud, obnoxious, and turns our living room into an absolute jungle.
What I have found though, is that I would always say, “Stop running.” I then changed the phrase to eventually be more positive where I would remind him, “Walk, please” or “we are inside” (which he knew meant to stop running). This boy is just full throttle energy though, and despite even my best efforts – this was becoming quite the challenge.
You see, inevitably what his body was telling him (and myself) was that he needed more exercise. He would refer to himself in song as being “jelly on a plate” and needed to get those wiggles out. I could say, “sit still, calm down, stop that, walk, and take a deep breath” all day long, but Mama, biology was working against me here.
Exercise Matters
Our bodies were made to move. The current recommendation is 30 minutes of exercise per day. This expectation doesn’t sound like a lot until you get a Fitbit or Apple Watch, and see your real daily number (sigh) The CDC reported that only 23% of American adults met the guideline for aerobic and muscle-strength. What this tells me is that children are not able to engage in exercise with their parents, because most parents are not exercising. I know, that statement hurts. I am guilty myself. Like I said, I am inside baking cookies while I’m tell him, “Stop running.”
Children are amazing in the fact that their brains haven’t been tempted towards laziness quite yet. They innately know that exercise makes their bodies, and then ultimately their minds, feel better. They are a ball of energy, because they enjoy moving and reaping the benefits of being active. They are in shape, pain free, and ready to go. It’s only when children begin to age that they are tempted by screen time, sitting, and giving up that healthy lifestyle for an “easier” yet costly exchange. Being idle is not the way our bodies were designed, and when depriving our bodies of activity – we can begin to see the symptoms arise.
Prescribed Exercise
There was a study completed in 2011 with three boys that struggled emotionally. They were ages 8, 9, and 11 and they all were displaying different types of challenging behavior including hitting, yelling, spitting, and dropping to the floor. The people in their life tried everything. Some of their intervention attempts included: having them self-reflect on what they did, redirecting them once they saw it starting, and providing them other sensory activities to engage with throughout their day. After observing the boys, the researcher implemented an exercise routine. Yep, good old fashion exercise. He hypothesized that these were young boys who probably needed to move more. He instructed them to exercise every day for 40 minutes (20 minutes in the morning, and 20 minutes in the afternoon) He gave them a list of simple exercises they could do, and a sticker tracking chart. Every time they completed their exercise routine, the adult in their life would put a sticker on their chart. Want to know what happened? The results were incredible. All the behaviors for all three boys were changed. They tracked the behavior as it decreased and decreased all the way down to 0 for all three boys.
Like any intervention we speak about here, there is never a one size fits all. The take away here though, is that we need to make exercise a priority. If we can be an example of exercise to our children and do it together, that’s even better yet.
How did I solve my running in the house problem? I recognized it as just that – a problem. If he began running in the house, I took that as a sign that he needed more exercise. I then shared that with him, “It looks like you want some exercise”. I was teaching him that moving was a good thing, but just something that happens outside. No fault of his, just solving a problem.
It was funny, my husband came home one day and asked, “Is Drake running laps in the backyard?” I had to chuckle. Yep, he said he needed exercise. He was “jelly on a plate.”
Need some extra motivation? Reference the EXERCISE VISUAL and get moving with the RANK THAT EXERCISE activity, as always, free to you!
Need some extra help talking through a specific behavior you are seeing at home. Set up a DISCOVERY CALL so that we can meet, or decide to invest in an HOURLY CONSULT so that we can start seeing some change.
References:
Cannella-Malone, Helen I., et al. “Using Antecedent Exercise to Decrease Challenging Behavior in Boys with Developmental Disabilities and an Emotional Disorder.” Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, vol. 13, no. 4, 2011, pp. 230–239., https://doi.org/10.1177/1098300711406122.
“FASTSTATS – Exercise or Physical Activity.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 6 Sept. 2022, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/exercise.htm. “Physical Activity.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-