At 4:30 p.m. on Monday,  JT Houston stood in front of a group of about 15 children in the basement of the Wilson Community Center in Syracuse. It’s the smallest room he’s ever taught in.

Every word he said amplified and echoed, as did the shrieks and laughter of the children. They count — “one,” “two,” “three,” up to 10 — after each squat, push-up, “Superman” and other fitness exercise he tells them to do.

Houston, the owner of fitness company H2Fitness, has been working with Syracuse children since 2010. Yet this is only his second week as part of Fit Kids, a Syracuse parks and recreation program. H2Fitness was only recently added to the program.

Growing up attending Syracuse parks and recreation programs, Houston saw many children’s fitness classes weren’t including the element of fun. So he developed techniques such as “memory fitness games” and incorporated equipment like jump ropes and agility ladders into his classes.

He said the program is an opportunity to get the kids away from the PlayStations, Xboxes and cell phones they are “glued to.”

“They need some other stimulus other than a device,” he said, gesturing toward the television in the front of the community center space. “They need to realize that fitness is part of their everyday life, not something that you do every once in a while.”

Sam Ogozalek | Staff Writer

Fit Kids began in 2009, said Chris Abbott, a program director with the Syracuse Department of Parks, Recreation & Youth Programs. The school year program relies on funding allocated from Onondaga County in the form of grants from the Department of Aging and Youth as well as the Youth Borough.

Abbott said the program aims to “try to make physical activity fun and try to keep it fresh,” contributing to the recommended 60 minutes of physical fitness per day. The centers also bring in nutrition professionals for additional health education.

The county’s community center bring in a variety of businesses and professionals from around the city to lead the children in activities such as Zumba, African dance, martial arts, tennis and distance running.

Graphic illustration by Emma Comtois

H2Fitness currently hosts one class per week at Wilson Park, but will begin additional classes after the holiday season.

Alana Hughes, the second H2Fitness trainer, said childhood fitness is an important issue, especially considering the prevalence of health issues such as diabetes and high blood pressure. She said exercising can help boost the kids’ self-esteem as well.

“Because when you work out you feel better, and if you feel better you do better,” Hughes said. “And if you grow up having fun working out, you’ll see that it’s not just work.”

In addition to the physical fitness component, Houston uses the hour-long program to teach the children about goals and dreams. He includes teambuilding exercises as well, such as having the children sit back-to-back, link arms and stand without using their hands.

Following the exercise, he discussed the activity with the group.

“Now how could we have done that better?” he asked, praising the first child who said “communication.”

Throughout the evening, he repeated the mantras, “Never say, ‘I can’t do it,’” and “Our mistakes help us improve.”

Sam Ogozalek | Staff Writer

Like H2Fitness, Syracuse Kung Fu, another new addition to the Fit Kids program, includes physical, ethical and philosophical training in its sessions. Sharif Anagl-Bey, Syracuse Kung Fu’s lead facilitator, teaches a martial arts foundation program at both McChesney Park and Burnet Park. While he had discussed joining Fit Kids for years, he began teaching at the centers last month.

The classes, he said, provide a basic education that prepares students for further training at his, or any other, martial arts school. But he said the foundation class itself benefits the children.

“Physical training is experiential learning,” Bey said. “It’s an alternative and supplementary way to learn and to educate as opposed to just sitting in a classroom.”

In addition to the benefits of physical and moral education, Houston said this program is important because some of the children do not have the financial ability to participate in fitness-based activities outside of the center.

Bey agreed, saying that many students in urban environments are discouraged from expressing their “limitless energy.”

“(Their energy) comes out in ways that some educators seem to be unwilling or unable to manage,” Bey said. “For us, the message of martial arts fits very, very well … It better facilitates the ability for us to not throw water on their fire but to temper it so it can be useful to them and to others as well.”

Published on November 29, 2016 at 9:28 pm

Contact: mcbuck01@syr.edu