Working Out...any way we can

I had seen a personal trainer and her student(s) a couple times on the basketball courts on the Eastern Prom, once on my way driving in to work, and once when my husband and I were playing tennis on the Prom courts. Both were early mornings before the summer’s heat kicked in.

What a great place to work out, my husband said. Far better than in a gym on a summer morning.

Another time last summer, as my son Ben and I hit the tennis courts, it was a young family…a 30-ish man and woman, with a 2-year old son and baby-in-a-carriage in tow.

At first, I thought they were all just hanging out on the basketball court. I saw a couple brightly colored Fisher Price trucks of the toddler’s, their dog was loosely leashed to the stair post heading to the Prom sidewalk that stretched all the way to the grandstand on the point.

But then, I noticed the husband and wife simultaneously doing deep knee bends.

They progressed to lunges, squats, and stepping up and down onto the metal benches serving as a tall stair master.

The mom suggested the toddler try the “tunnel,” crawling on his belly like a worm under the benches. That killed a few minutes for the child.

Then, as the mom did calf rises pushing the baby carriage around the perimeter, the dad piggy-backed the little boy around the new community garden behind the courts.

They worked out, together, until the baby told them it was time to go….by beginning to cry.

Time was up.

But they got a brief workout in….together….and were showing the toddler the importance of moving our bodies in a fun, active way.

I loved seeing this.

Getting a little exercise, any way they could, a benefit to all four of them....together.

What a grand idea.

Photo: Casco Bay, Maine