Presuming you have more than one child in the program, one of the things kids learn in Operation Pull Your Own Weight (OPYOW) is that every body is different. And I do mean every body. Some bodies are tall while others are short. Some bodies are light while others are heavy. Some bodies are male, while others are female. Bodies even come in a multitude, a veritable rainbow of different colors, and each one is unique and different from the other, which is why the pull-up bar in this program is height adjustable…to accommodate all these different kinds of bodies.

Every Body Can Get Stronger

On the other hand, another thing kids learn in OPYOW is that if you accommodate all these different kinds of bodies, every body can make regular progress towards the goal of being able to Pull Your Own Weight, towards getting strong, and towards immunizing oneself against obesity for a lifetime. And when I say regular progress I mean that…done right, every time a kid grabs onto the pull-up bar, he or she will be better, stronger, and closer to becoming immunized against obesity than the last time. And this predictable progress will continue for a good six to eight weeks.

Collective Success Is Built In

Done right, every kid learns to expect improvement, every kid expects to be stronger, every kid expects that all the other kids will improve every time they have the opportunity to work out on the pull-up bar. And after each successful set of pull-ups, kids give each other high fives, and revel in one another’s success. Done right, this collective expectation of success is built into Operation Pull Your Own Weight.

Regular Slices of Improvement = Winning

Another thing kids learn in OPYOW is that regular improvement is winning, and that winning is improving, getting stronger on a regular basis. They also learn that getting stronger on a regular basis requires regular work, good eating habits, sufficient rest, and avoiding negative habits like tobacco, alcohol, and drugs. As a matter of fact they also learn the reverse, namely that without regular workouts, good eating habits, sufficient rest, and without avoiding tobacco, alcohol, and drugs, you are choosing to be weak. And as we’ve said on previous occasions, NO KID WANTS TO BE WEAK!

Done Right, Every Body’s A Winner

When presented right, you have kids standing in line at the annual fall fest, twelve and fifteen deep, all night long, paying money for the opportunity to get on the pull up bar and show their parents how strong they’re becoming. You have fifty-out-of-fifty kids who actively choose pull-ups over recess. And in one case, you have an entire (at-risk) school full of kids who take pride in their ability to Pull Their Own Weight. In other words, when presented right, in OPYOW, there are NO LOSERS, NO FAILURES. THERE ARE ONLY WINNERS. So make sure and present it right.

P.S. On the pull-up bar these lessons are learned in a very concrete (non-abstract, non-theoretical) way. In other words it’s not just more talk, it’s real live, hands-on, interactive action that gets built into PYOW participants at a very practical level.