We are on Week 3 of "Mom's Boot Camp"

Last summer was not fun for me. My kids had many opportunities afforded them (King's Dominion, the beach, the boardwalk, NYC, etc.) and all I heard was whining all summer long! This year, I decided I was not going to put up with that. So, I developed a boot camp for my three boys. They are ages 9, 11, and 13.
Every morning, we drink our glass of water and read the Bible. We drink a glass of water to prep for the exercise coming up. While we are drinking our water, I did not want to waste that time, so we read our portion of Scripture for the day. I'm reading Psalms at the moment. Different tunes pop into my head as I read various chapters (because the words correlate with a praise song) - I love when that happens. Anyway, after we read our verses, we work on memorizing our passage of Scripture for the summer. We are memorizing Matthew 5 - the sermon on the mount. So far, we've gotten verses 1 through 10 memorized. My oldest son actually struggles the most with memorizing them. It's odd - he just finished geometry at the age of 13 but it takes him the longest to memorize these verses.

We alternate days for the physical exercise. Mon., Wed. Fri. we run. Tue., Thu., Sat. we do sit-ups and push-ups. Many books I've read said it's best to run on alternating days. The sit-up and push-up regimen we are following also advised to do these on alternating days. Perfect! And Sunday, we rest.

When we run, the younger ones run about 2 miles and increase it half a mile each week. My 13yo and I are up to 3.5 miles. On Friday, we go to our local high school and do speed laps around the track. The best book to follow for a solid running regimen is Galloway's Book on Running. The younger boys do not have to run the entire time. In fact, they usually opt to walk half the time. I don't mind. Walking is often more healthy for you than running.

For the sit-ups and push-ups, I found a good guide on the internet called 100 push-ups challenge. They also have a 200 sit-ups challenge. I don't really care how many I end up doing, but I really liked how they gradually increment the number. All of us tested ourselves the first day. My 11yo and 13yo are at the highest level for sit-ups. My 9yo and myself are at the lowest level. For the push-ups, my 13yo can do the most, 11yo the second most, and I can do more than my 9yo but not much more. For me, the push-ups KILL me! But, I really want to get stronger in my arms. I've noticed that I am barely improving in my push-ups, but with the sit-ups I've improved drastically. It has amazed me. I started out only being able to do 20 situps but now I can do 40 easily.

So, all of this is required at the beginning of each day. On the running days, I have to go to work at 9am, so I make the boys get up at 7am in order to complete everything. Plus, during the summer, we need to run in the morning while it's cool.
Do the boys complain? You bet! But only for a little at the beginning. They actually got quite excited about the possible results - feeling stronger, looking stronger - being able to pass the Presidential fitness test. Also, last year, they were lying around so much and being grouchy. This year, the physical activity every morning has given them good energy, and they are more creative, less whiny. I've always heard that getting some sun (vitamin D) really helps with depression and mood, so I think I'm seeing that effect.

Just so you know, the "amount" of exercise is self-determined. The boys can decide if they want to do more or less. We don't automatically move forward on all the schedules. We've already slowed down on some of them (namely, the push-ups one for me - I think I'm going to be stuck on week 3 for the rest of the summer, lol). I just like having a schedule for the boys. They get to play the whole rest of the day! This has turned out to be a good start for the day, though.