Okay, Fitness Fairy Tales is now available for download on CDBaby.
Fitness Fairy Tales is a 27-minute workout program (audio) for children ages 2-7.
History: Many years ago I ran into Dr. Avery Faigenbaum, who was then the fitness director at my health club. Avery is a nationally recognized expert in children’s fitness, and, with all the hoopla about the problem of obesity in children, I thought, hey, wouldn’t it be fun and challenging and also kind of a good thing to produce a children’s fitness show? And wouldn’t some huge athletic shoe manufacturer want to sponsor a show like that? Well, long story short, the TV show never got off the ground, but we did produce this audio workout. Got excellent reviews but, it being pre-internet age, I lacked the ability back then to properly promote and distribute it. The internet has changed that, so here it is.
The theme of the workout: Fitness Fairy Tales are the exercises that the most famous fairy tale characters have to do to stay in shape. Just one example from the cover: Red Riding Hood has to schlep that basket to grandma’s, so for her, biceps curls are key. (I love the look on the Wolf’s face. Also, the song is also one of my favorites, and please don’t ask how we got a group of amateur ten-year-old girls to do the Andrews Sisters harmonies so precisely.)
The overriding message here is that exercise is an integral part of life. The main goal is to motivate kids to exercise, while giving them expert advice on how to do the most common exercises and stretches. The fact that there is no show like this on PBS makes me scratch my head in wonderment.
I came very close to having my artistic license revoked after producing this thing . . . but it’s fun, and Chris Anderson at Mix One Studios said I should put it on Itunes so here it is (will be in Itunes shortly, although I don’t know exactly when). On CDBaby you can only download the whole show (recommended) but when it migrates to Itunes one can download individual songs. You can hear a large portion of each individual workout song for free on the CDBaby site.
——-FYI:
From the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry website:
The problem of childhood obesity in the United States has grown considerably in recent years. Between 16 and 33 percent of children and adolescents are obese. Obesity is among the easiest medical conditions to recognize but most difficult to treat. Unhealthy weight gain due to poor diet and lack of exercise is responsible for over 300,000 deaths each year. The annual cost to society for obesity is estimated at nearly $100 billion. Overweight children are much more likely to become overweight adults unless they adopt and maintain healthier patterns of eating and exercise. (Italics mine)
