I was fascinated by the recent world record by Giuliano Stroe, a five-year-old boy from Romania, who was able to perform 12 “air push-ups” to cement his feat in the Guinness Book of World Records. It’s simple really, you just do a hand stand and then do a push-up from there! Go ahead, watch the video and try it now, I’ll wait….
How’d it go? Yeah, I can’t do one either. I think most people’s instincts when watching Giuliano is “this can’t be good for this kid.” The American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement for strength training for children states: Strength training programs do not seem to adversely affect linear growth and do not seem to have any long-term detrimental effect on cardiovascular health. The AAP does, however, recommend against competitive bodybuilding and maximal lifts until physical and skeletal maturity. Whether this is good for Giuliano will be up for debate, and I hope that his pediatrician was consulted during his training, but I want to focus on what I like about this story: how Giuliano got this strong. According to an interview in Huffington Post, Giuliano’s father said, “He has been going to the gym with me ever since he was born. I always took him with me when I went training.” He’s working out with his kid! Even when a preschooler, when most parents would leave them home or put them in daycare, Giuliano’s father spent his workout time with his son. I think that’s cool. Of course, there is the mom side of me that worries Giuliano’s dad may have pushed him into training, but I choose to believe Giuliano’s father when he said, “He’s still only a child, and if he gets tired or bored we go and play.” If this is true and all of Giuliano’s training was physician supervised, I will look at this as a positive story, because working out with your kids is a great way for the whole family to stay healthy.
What to you think of Giuliano and his dad? Is this a creepy gym version of Toddlers and Tiaras? Or is it a great example of family fitness?
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I hope that this is a positive story as well – and maybe a clip in the video of the boy at play would have made it easier to accept as a positive story. But there’s something about the boy’s expression as he holds up his “number 1″ that seems to be absent from most other 5-year-olds I see. I see a deep competitor’s pride in his eyes, but I don’t see any child’s joy. I applaud them working out together, and I hope and pray that he also gets to have fun and just be a kid when he wants.
I’m with you. I just know that my son loves to workout with me because I’ve always included him. BUT, I’m not training him in any way–he is just jumping and moving and having fun. Let’s hope for the best for Giuliano.
It’s hard to tell if it is creepy or heart warming, but I’m with you–let’s hope for the best! And I wish I could do those air push ups!
Oh-em-gee. I’m with Mel, except for wishing I could do that. I can’t even do those in my mind!
In my mind I can do thousands! Then I wake up.