Latest Resource
Why Communication With Boys Is Different (and How to Make It Easier) Boys are often described as ‘distracted,’ but the truth is—they’re incredibly tuned in. They notice your tone before your words, your posture before your questions, and your mood before you open your...
Ever wonder how to keep your boys active, strong, and healthy—without pushing too hard or doing too much? In this episode, we chat with Annie Carey Linton, a pediatric exercise physiologist and mom-favorite coach who’s spent 30+ years helping kids move better and feel better.
She shares down-to-earth tips on strength training for boys, how to support their physical development at every age, and ways to keep movement fun (yes, even for screen-loving teens!). This one’s for moms who want to raise strong, confident, and healthy boys—inside and out.
Meet today’s guest, Annie Carey Linton — a passionate advocate for kids’ health and movement. Annie holds a Master’s in Exercise Physiology from Temple University and brings over 30 years of experience in pediatric clinical exercise physiology. She currently works at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) as a Pediatric Clinical Exercise Physiologist and Lifestyle Medicine Health Coach, supporting the Division of Cardiology and the Connective Tissue Disorder Program.
Annie also shares her love of fitness as a personal trainer, TRX instructor at her local YMCA, and former adjunct professor at Eastern University, Cabrini, and West Chester University. Her mission? Helping children build strong, healthy bodies through safe, evidence-based movement at every stage of development.
The information provided in this podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Consult with a qualified professional for specific guidance.
Subscribe to our newsletter for podcast updates and more.
Cheryl Bohn: Hello, and welcome to the Mothers of Boys podcast, or as we like to call it, The Mob. This is a place where we dive into real conversations with experts, offering advice, insights, and strategies to help moms navigate the fun, rewarding, and sometimes challenging world of raising boys. I’m Cheryl Bond.
Suzy Shaw: And I’m Suzy Shaw. And today’s podcast is titled Built to Move: A Guide to Boys Physical Development and Conditioning.
Cheryl Bohn: Today’s guest is Annie Carey Linton. Annie has her Master’s of Education in Exercise Physiology from Temple University. She is a pediatric clinical exercise physiologist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and serves as a lifestyle medicine health coach for the Division of Cardiology and the Connective Tissue Disorder Program. She teaches strength conditioning TRX classes at her local Y and is a personal trainer and has taught as an adjunct professor at Eastern University, Cabrini, and West Chester University and their departments of Exercise Science.
She has over 30 years of hands-on experience in clinical exercise physiology, specializing in pediatric health care with a longstanding commitment to improving the health and well-being of children through movement and evidence-based care. Welcome Annie. Thank you so much for being here.
Annie Carey Linton: Hi there. How are you?
Cheryl Bohn: Great. So you are sort of like a superhero mom. Your kids are lucky to have someone with so much experience in exercise physiology.
Annie Carey Linton: I wouldn’t go as far as saying superhero, but it’s sort of passion for myself and having that knowledge and being able to bring it to the table to my kids, it’s been a great experience.
Suzy Shaw: So, Annie, can we just start off with, you know, what is clinical exercise physiology?
Annie Carey Linton: Well, briefly, clinical exercise physiology is a health care specialization using exercise and physical activity to prevent, treat, and manage chronic conditions. And at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, I work in the division of cardiology in which we use exercise metabolic testing, which is basically stress testing, if you’ve heard of stress testing before, to assess current levels of fitness for children with congenital heart disease, as well as symptoms associated with exercise. Like sometimes we’ll have kids that will come in and say, you know, I had chest pain while I was playing soccer, or maybe I was short of breath when I was running at recess, you know. So those type of symptomatic type of situations are what we assess the children with.
Cheryl Bohn: What should parents know about how much physical activity their kids should have at different stages of development?
Annie Carey Linton: Right. Well, sure. As a mother of boys and girls as well, we know that from the get-go, the goal for any infant is to, you know, be able to prop them up, roll themselves over, and crawl, sit up and crawl. And then we praise, as parents, we praise every movement that they make, like, “yay, they did it, oh my gosh.” And then because we’re so proud of them and we can’t wait till they get to the next milestone.
Now, my first child, Kaylee, was born, was a girl, and she was a preemie, so her milestones of sitting up, rolling over, and, you know, crawling were delayed for several months. But 17 months later, I have a son named Holden, who was not a preemie. In fact, he came out of the womb looking around as if, like, he, like, owned the place. He met his milestones a lot faster. He was sitting up, crawling, and climbing on my coffee table by eight months and projecting himself off and thinking this was the funniest thing ever.
And so having, like, his delay, my daughter’s delay, and his advancement in milestones, it was like having twins, like thing one and thing two, running and wreaking havoc all over my house and, you know, in the living room. So as far as, you know, when we talk about kids, you know, as I said, from an infant standpoint, we just want them to meet their milestones.
And our bodies are meant to move. So when we ask what the appropriate amount of exercise babies, toddlers, kids, and teens should be doing, the quick answer to all of this is as much as they can. And I think that with most parents, we really grapple with, like, well, how much is too much? How much is too little? What should we be doing with our kids? And with the childhood obesity being a chronic concern for parents, you know, and Americans, there are guidelines that have been put forward for kids of all ages, according to the CDC, which is the Center for Disease Control, the physical activity guidelines for Americans states that, like, school-aged kids should at least be doing about 60 to 90 minutes a day of moderate to heavy exercise.
And that, you know, school-age, we can go, you know, is that a toddler? Because toddlers are moving around all the time. But what I want to emphasize is that moderate to heavy is where they’re not just walking. They are getting their heart rate up, their breathing rate up, they’re, you know, getting a little glistening with, you know, sweat. So that is really what, you know, the goal is when you talk about physical activity.
Suzy Shaw: And so, Annie, when it comes to kids at different ages, what kinds of physical activities do you think are the most helpful or important for their development?
Annie Carey Linton: Aerobic exercise where you’re using large muscle groups for walking, running, biking, swimming, hiking, you know, anything like that, where we’re also…could also put in another category of sports, you know, whether you’re playing baseball, football, basketball, tennis, pickleball, which everybody’s doing these days, and, you know, golf, soccer, lacrosse, you name it, all those sports are valuable in helping condition kids.
But one category that I think that is really, I wouldn’t say overlooked, but it’s less stressed for kids is strength training. And I think that strength training and conditioning is what I see personally as one of the most important activities that we can get our kids to participate in.
Suzy Shaw: So Annie, tell us what the difference is. What is weightlifting and strength training, and are they the same thing? Is that what you’re suggesting?
Annie Carey Linton: No. Now, I don’t want to confuse strength training with weightlifting because, you know, I’m not suggesting that you go out and get play school baby weights for your toddlers, but young kids as young as two and three are already using their own body weight to move, groove, and learn physical skills that they’re going to need for a lifetime. They stand, they push, they pull, they squat, they, you know, pull under the dog’s tail, you know, they’re running up and down the steps. And all those are body weight exercise activities that are enhancing their growth and stamina.
Cheryl Bohn: Well, Annie, can you share some unique or creative ideas for exercise that might not be widely known to help get kids moving?
Annie Carey Linton: Sure. Well, truth be told that when my kids were really young, I used to try to make cleaning their room really, really fun. And I’d first let them jump on the bed for a little bit and say, hey, now it’s time to clean the room, you know, and well, believe it or not, jumping on bed can be very good exercise. And then the kids would say, yay, it’s time to clean the room. And we’d like, I’d say, like, now get on your bellies and like crawl and get, you know, pick up all the clothes under your bed and, you know, let’s put them in and we play music and we kind of dance around and, but that lasted till about four or five. And then, you know, they found other activities to do.
So like if a toddler is watching his mom do yoga exercises in the living room, nine times out of 10, that kid’s going to get on the floor and try to do exactly what mommy’s doing. And I think that just these types of, you know, modeling for the kids is a really great way to get them to participate if, you know, you’re willing to show them what to do.
Suzy Shaw: So Annie, in my book, Mother’s a Boy’s Survival Guide, I call my boys Earnest and Exuberance. And let’s just say I didn’t have much of a problem getting Exuberance to do all the exercising that he wanted to do. Ernest, on the other hand, was much happier doing quiet things. And so he would have been happy playing his Legos, not necessarily running around the house and doing the physical activity. And when it came time to get him involved in sports, it took a little bit more encouragement to get him to play soccer or those sort of activities. Do you have any suggestions for parents and moms for getting the Earnests of the world up and moving?
Annie Carey Linton: One thing that we hear so often is that my child doesn’t like to do anything. All they want to be is on their computer. It’s what they want to do. They don’t like sports. They don’t like this. They don’t like that. And they’re just very sedentary. And I think that, you know, that can create a predicament in the household, but it also can be a motivator.
I did have a patient that I had worked with over the years, actually, a couple years ago. He was probably a little overweight for his age. And he and his mom and I talked about, you know, I was working with him as his health coach. And we talked about the idea of what could he do in order to kind of get active? And she said, because he loves being on the computer.
So we had discussed this idea of the virtual reality, like a VR system that he was getting for his birthday. And so when we talked together, along with the 11-year-old and his mom, we came up with this idea. He said there were two games that his friends had. It was called Ninja Fruit, which is where when you have those goggles on, you know, there’s fruits coming at you and you have to like slice it and kick it and punch it. And, you know, it’s a lot of, a lot of, you know, movement.
And the other one he came up with was called Gorilla Tag, which I am assuming that you’re playing tag with a gorilla or you’re, I think you’re being chased by a gorilla. I’m not exactly sure which, but we had, we hadn’t worked together for like a couple months. And when I saw him, we were talking, he had lost about 10 pounds. And I said, wow, what’s going on? And his mom said he plays Gorilla Tag every day with, and his friends. He has friends that like they go online and they all play together.
So you can take what they like to do, which may be on the computer and, and connect with their friends via the computer. Some of these games are, there’s a lot of things out there that are actually really valuable and very helpful for kids to engage after school or, you know, with, with each other on weekends or a rainy day when they’re, when that in-person meeting is impossible to happen.
Cheryl Bohn: So Annie, can you offer some practical tips on incorporating more movement into the everyday routine when kids have a really full schedule with homework and classes and, and other things?
Annie Carey Linton: One thing we do know is that exercise gets the blood flowing. So it increases cognitive functioning, just like for attention, memory, it increases our neural connections, it boosts executive functioning of the brain, which is the planning and decision making part. And it releases stress that so many kids today have. And not to mention it, enhances motor skills such as balance and coordination with activities. And it also activates the brain regions for cognitive processes, which allows us to sort of do math homework, right?
If they can take a break before they even come home from school, put that half an hour before they even sit down and study and just run around, get their blood flowing. It actually will enhance their ability to do their homework much better and sometimes even more efficiently.
Cheryl Bohn: That makes sense.
Suzy Shaw: So Annie, I know you work with a variety of children of different ages. So how do you motivate a child to exercise and become more interested in being active?
Annie Carey Linton: The first thing that we really try to hone in on is what is it that you like to do? Let’s start with the SMART Goals, which is an acronym: S is being Specific, M is Measurable, A is Achievable, R is Relevant, and T is Time bound.
And when they have control over what activity they have decided on, they’re making the decisions. And the whole point of the SMART Goals is that it’s their idea, not yours. It’s not my idea and I’m not telling them what to do. They’re actually coming up with the plan. They’re coming up with the idea and, and, you know, with kids especially, keeping the time bound part of it short, like, “Okay, do you think you could do that for one week? Let’s start with one week. And then you say, okay, well, how about for two weeks?” And then it, you know, we know that the more, you know, time goes by and they’re continuing to do it, the more they’re going to stick with it.
So having SMART Goals is really about goal setting for the individual with them being the person in control.
Cheryl Bohn: So Annie, you’re typically, you’re working with the child one-on-one, but how do you advise the parents to be when they, the child leaves you and they go home? Do you give them advice on what they should be doing until the next time the child sees you?
Annie Carey Linton: Yeah, you know, as a health coach and also as a mother, I know for a fact that the more you pressure your kids to do something, the less they will want to do it. And I guess you could call that “resistance training,” right? So finding what interests them and asking them what ways they can get started gives the kids autonomy to try something on their own. If they have a dog, you know, can they, do you think you could start being responsible for taking the dog for a walk if they’re not going to do a sport?
I think it’s important that parents are role models and not finger shakers and say, you know, you need to do this because we know that kids want to feel in control. And when it comes to exercise, they will definitely feel much more energized, more likely to stick with an activity and feel a lot better about themselves if they’re the ones who set the goal, you know, decided on what activity they were going to do. And they start to have a little more self-confidence in themselves when they’ve set goals and they’re able to achieve them.
You know, one of the things that we do say from a professional standpoint is to try to not provide food rewards, you know, where every now and then it’s okay, but, you know, by giving, you know, food, ice creams and candies and things like that, and, you know, some kids might just want the money. If you exercise, I’ll pay you, okay? My kids certainly did. I think that just finding some sort of balance in the reward system and just even just personal satisfaction that they were able to do something may just be enough for some of these kids to continue to participate.
Cheryl Bohn: Yeah, definitely. Well, there’s plenty of research linking exercise to mental health. Have you noticed anything personally when you’re dealing with your patients when it comes to mental health and wellness?
Annie Carey Linton: Absolutely. I can say for sure that I’ve been coaching with some of my kids for years and how they have transformed from these younger teens to these awesome, like, young adults has just been amazing.
They’re the ones making the decisions on what they’re going to do, how they’re going to exercise, how they’re going to eat healthier, if they’re going to get better sleep at night. So those are some of the goals that we work on.
Even some kids, you know, say, I play too much video games. I want to slow down on that. I want to put that away. So I think that setting these goals and them making their own goals and them achieving their own goals has been really just such a great thing to watch.
Cheryl Bohn: Yeah, it builds confidence. Sure does. They feel good about their decisions.
Suzy Shaw: So Annie, can you share any resources with our mothers of boys community?
Annie Carey Linton: Absolutely. So probably one of the best places to start would be at where I work at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. They have their own website. It’s at chop.edu. Look up exercise apps. That’s a great place to start. In addition, we often use darebee.com exercises to give you some ideas of how to put together a little bit of a workout for your children.
Cheryl Bohn: Annie, we like to ask all our guests, if you have a motto or a mantra that sums up how you think about this topic, you know, something that you come back to or something that you try to live by.
Annie Carey Linton: Yes, it would be. “Stay as strong as you can for as long as you can.”
Suzy Shaw: Bravo.
Cheryl Bohn: Yeah, that’s key. Well, thank you, Annie. This was so insightful, and I think you really provided a lot of great advice to our moms. I think particularly, you know, the whole concept of parents trying to make the activities fun and having activities that you wouldn’t normally consider exercise, having them be exercise and making them fun. And I think also it’s important that the parents, like you said, set a good example themselves.
And thank you all for joining us today. Follow The MOB on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and your favorite podcast platform. Be kind to yourselves, moms, and have a great week.
Mothers of Boys Survival Guide is a production of Flame Digital Communications and author Suzy Shaw. This episode was edited by Adam Radtke. Our theme music is by Raphael Fierro-Valerio of Pond5. Join the MOB online at mothersofboys.life. See you next week.
