Footbag as a way of Fighting Childhood Obesity

ednie · Post by **ednie** » 14 Mar 2007 15:59

Dear Modified,
This year I am taking the year off uni to see what I can achieve as a footbag performer and as a Footbag promoter. So far things have been developing well. In Australia we have a program called 'Jump Rope for Heart' and it is run by the Heart Foundation. My hope is to lead Footbag into a similar position.

We are all convinced of how worthwhile footbag is as a tool for exercise, enjoyment, social interaction and a sense of achievement when we meet our goals. It is a wholesome game which has a lot of potential to help a lot of people.

Currently I am featured on a TV program called 'Australia's Got Talent', and am working on getting this message conveyed through that program and also through Uni news papers and The Age.

As it happened, a family friend stayed with us, and I was talking to her all about 'why I am not going to uni this year' and we ended up talking about this. It turns out that her best friend is the CEO of the Heart Foundation in Victoria. I gave her an instructional video that i have been working on, and Kathy (the CEO) was reported as saying she liked it and that the Heart Foundation of Australia is actually looking for an alternative to 'Jump Rope for Heart' at the present.

Obviously this is all very exciting for Footbag, but I need people to help me out in a few different ways.

1. If anyone has done, or heard of, any primary (elementary) school program or high school (Junior High and College) then please inform me, because i would really love to talk to you.

2. Anyone who is versed in the scientific side of footbag - eg cardio vascular fitness, anorobic, all that sort of jargon. I love footbag, but i am not a pe teacher, and it will make my proposal much more impressive.

3. Underneath this is a questionairre. I've put it togehter, but if theres other stuff which should be asked, i'm ready for feedback. If you could cut and paste it to Word, then type it out, and send to [email protected], that would be deeply appreciated. I am looking for testimonials, so if footbag has meant alot to you, please tell me about it.

Thankyou kindly for your time in reading.
Dan Ednie

Profile
1. Name:
2. DOB:
3. Current height:
4. Current Weight:

About Footbag
5. How did you first find Footbag?
6. How long have you been playing for?
7. What are the aspects of Footbag that you like?
8. What are the aspects of Footbag that you donâ€™t like?
9. Do you think this will be a game that you play for a long time?
10. Have you felt any changes in fitness since playing?
11. Do you feel more or less comfortable with your body since you started playing?
12. Would you recommend this game to others?

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Will Digges · Post by **Will Digges** » 14 Mar 2007 18:24

This is a great idea, because I have noticed footbag shows that it helps heavier set people loose weight pretty well. I remember seeing bigger players one year and the next year their appearance would be much different, in a good way. I think you may have something here!

ednie · Post by **ednie** » 15 Mar 2007 21:30

Thankyou to all the people who have filled in the questionaire and sent it to me. Does no one know any technical knowledge about weight loss related to footbag?

Please email me if you know.
dan

Blue_turnip · Post by **Blue_turnip** » 05 Apr 2007 08:27

Footbag takes A lot of passion and dedication and its certainly easier to maintain motivation if you're really fit and just built for the game. Its hard enough to get people to play the game who are fit. I've only seen like one fat footbagger before and that was from some video years ago.
I don't think many people have lost weight playing footbag. Certainly gotten fitter - shit yeah thats heaps of people but I dunno about losing weight. I stand to be corrected, however.

kyle · Post by **kyle** » 05 Apr 2007 09:49

Zach Janner lost like 70 pounds playing footbag over the course of a year or two. Footbag is like jogging or sprinting, while doing situps at the same time. When your carrying an extra 70 pounds around, overweight guys just get a better work out doing anything compaired to skinny guys.

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 05 Apr 2007 10:48

I was on the sumo team before footbag.

Max Power · Post by **Max Power** » 05 Apr 2007 17:27

I have actually gained weight since playing footbag, i used to play basketball before footbag. I lost a lot of weight from that game about 50 pounds I think, but than i hurt my shoulder and couldn't play anymore so i focused more on footbag. I love the game and i wouldn't trade back for basketball if I had to choose one or the other, but there are a lot of games out there that have better weight loss potential. I play more footbag than i did basketball in my prime but i have managed to put on about 15 pounds since the switch, which was about 4 years ago now. Those who have known me could tell you that i have never been a thin guy but there was one point that i was almost fit, that is now gone and i can never seem to get it back.

shredzilla · Post by **shredzilla** » 05 Apr 2007 18:13

C-Fan wrote:I was on the sumo team before footbag.

Haha. This is awesome though, I've thought about going this route myself! Thanks for keeping this fresh.

Smurfy · Post by **Smurfy** » 09 Apr 2007 21:46

Havn't got time to read this thread throughly right now, but good on ya danny boy! I should really consider doing the same thing..... maybe next year. Anyway, make sure to keep me up to date on how things go for you.

mizua_r · Post by **mizua_r** » 12 Apr 2007 12:05

Hey, footbag for fitness is a really great idea! It's actually really good for your cardiovascular system. I remember first starting and being really surprised at the effort, stamina and strength it takes to be a decent shredder. Plus, if aching legs mean anything....