May 9, 2008

Middle school boot camp

Fitness buff teaches kids to have fun while losing weight

By Mark Abramson / Daily News Staff Writer

A Peninsula businesswoman is showing middle school students they don't have to put themselves through punishing workouts to get in better shape.

All it takes is adopting healthy eating habits and tailoring their supervised exercise around activities they already like doing, says Jodi Hamilton-Eichensehr, who owns Safari Run, a fitness center in San Mateo for kids.

And Hamilton-Eichensehr knows how to get results.

She used her 18 years of experience as a fitness instructor to voluntarily run the SR Fitness Challenge for 10 Burlingame Intermediate School and two Borel Middle School students.

Participants in the 15-week program that started in January and ended a few weeks ago all had failed three out of the five physical fitness tests at their schools.

After taking the course, the 10 Burlingame Intermediate students passed all of the physical fitness tests, including a mile run, push-ups and other exercises.

"They can see the importance and the difference it has made in their bodies," said Robin May, the school's physical education teacher and department head. "One young man has lost 22 pounds.

"Our kids are coming to us less fit every year ... it is getting worse every year. It is their lifestyles," May said. "They aren't going out and playing as much."

SR Fitness Challenge teaches the students healthy eating habits and how to have fun exercising, Hamilton-Eichensehr said. She urges them to do the type of activities they like, whether it be riding their bikes or skateboards, and puts them through an obstacle course at Safari Run.

"It's fun things," she said about the exercises. "If I was to say run 10 laps, there would be no way to get these kids to do it, so I had to be creative. It's about being creative and letting these kids have a good time. It's not about boring exercises.

"In SR Fitness Challenge, the goal is to get the kids to do 60 minutes of physical activity a day."

Hamilton-Eichensehr said that in addition to getting the kids to do fun things like jumping around on picnic tables, she warns them not to do so without supervision.

Hamilton-Eichensehr said her 8- and 10-year-old sons helped her by motivating the other children.

With child obesity being such a problem, Hamilton-Eichensehr said she wants to expand the SR Fitness Challenge to help get more students in shape.

"It is my time and money, but I think it is such an important topic, and I think somebody had to start something," Hamilton-Eichensehr said.

Burlingame seventh-grader Raymond Prieto, 13, jumped at the chance to participate when he heard about the program. His mother, Kim Prieto-Valentino, said he lost 18 pounds in SR Fitness Challenge.

"I liked everything. I liked how she taught what kinds of foods to eat," Raymond said. "I wanted to lose weight and have better eating habits."

Raymond said one of his favorite exercises was the Cheetah Run - an obstacle course through a play structure at Safari Run that he completed with no sweat in 19 seconds at the end of the program.

Raymond said he anticipates riding his bike, playing basketball or participating in other sports much more often now.

"He has a lot more confidence," Prieto-Valentino said. "He learned how to eat correctly, and he feels great about himself."



E-mail Mark Abramson at mabramson@dailynewsgroup.com.