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4 exercises to build athleticism
Plus: The perils of Roblox
Geoff Girvitz
October 24, 2024
Today on Dad Strength
The perils of Roblox
Four exercises to build athleticism
You can’t be on all day
A book, a quote, a dad joke
The perils of Roblox: a new report
A parent recounted this story: their eight-year-old had been chatting with a Roblox friend online and mentioned this to their mom. He said that the kid was also eight and had been asking all about his life. His mom put the kibosh on things then and there. “No eight-year-old,” she said, “is deeply curious about another person’s life. You’ve been speaking with an adult.”
An incredibly damning research report on Roblox recently dropped and it’s got me thinking about risk. Kids on open platforms risk running into unsavoury characters, as well as more subtle problems like in-game currency and pockets of extremism.
I don’t know – but seriously doubt – that there is a way to make a massive platform like Roblox completely safe. Especially when there’s a tension between user safety and shareholder value, as there is here. Many parents agree and keep their kids off in spite of plenty of positive and safe content. Others argue that monitoring a kid’s online life is the parent’s responsibility… Full stop.
An argument can be made for media-training your kids in steps through platforms like this but the harsh reality is that the kind of monitoring and vigilance required to make Roblox, etc. work is a luxury. Parents are hustling pretty hard right now.
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4 exercises to build athleticism
You can’t train like a robot and then expect to move like a panther. Making things athletic starts with exercise choices that emphasize stability, strength, and total-body coordination.
I have a fresh piece out for AskMen that includes expert details on these four beauties:
Rear-foot elevated split-squats (AKA Bulgarian split-squats)
Viking push-press
Sprints
Loaded push-ups
You can’t be on all day
The higher you need to rev cognitively, the more important that negative space becomes. Quiet. A lack of inputs. This isn’t about hustle, it’s about the constraints of attention and learning.
Coming up on the next Dad Strength call (Tuesday at 3 PM EST): How to design your environment for health
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What I’m reading
A Quote
“You are the only custodian of your own integrity, and the assumptions made by those that misunderstand who you are and what you stand for reveal a great deal about them and absolutely nothing about you.”
A Dad joke
Kid: I’m going to see a play by Shakespeare tomorrow.
Dad: Which one?
Kid: William
Take care of yourself, man!
Geoff Girvitz
Father, founder, physical culturist
dadstrength.com