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Pushing the Exercise Limits: How Much is Too Much For a Child?
October 13th, 2011
Photography ©iStock
Meet CJ Senter. He is a fitness guru and has both a successful exercise DVD series and a 6-pack of ab muscles. He works hard to encourage children to get healthy and get fit. He is also only 10 years old. Yes, that’s right. Ten.
From his bio, Senter seems like a really normal kid. He likes to play sports and video games. He has five dogs and his favourite show is Suite Life on Deck.
It’s certainly refreshing, amidst a sea of articles about childhood obesity, to see a young boy so motivated to be healthy and strong, that it’s coined him the nickname “The Workout Kid.” It’s also wonderful to see him motivating other kids to be more active. From ABC’s Nightline feature about Senter, it’s obvious from the applause he gets when he walks into a room that there’s tremendous power in what he is doing.
On the other hand, seeing a young boy with so much determination to be so fit brings up the obvious question: Is he pushing himself too far, both physically and emotionally? Too much of anything has the potential to be dangerous—even fitness. And for a 10-year-old child, there are definite things to be concerned about, including injury, possible compulsive behaviour and/or social issues.
What do you think? Does the “Workout Kid” take fitness too far for someone his age, or are we reading too much into this?
Copyright © 2012 St. Joseph Media. All Rights Reserved.