+ MAN ON A MISSION

COMMANDO STEVE IS HELPING KIDS GET FIT

As Steve ‘Commando’ Willis gets ready to watch his daughter Ella compete in the Sanitarium Weet-bix Kids Tryathlon next month, he’ll be taking a different approach to the one he used with The Biggest Loser contestants. Instead of insisting she go harder, he’ll be encouraging his 10-year-old to pace herself through the event.

‘She’s very competitive, so I’ll be telling her not to use up all her energy at the start,’ he laughs. ‘She doesn’t like to lose.’

As an ambassador for the Tryathlon series, which kicks off in Sydney in February and boasts events around the country, Steve is hoping to encourage other parents to register their children and train with them for the event.

‘The great thing about the Tryathlon is it’s not focused on competition, but setting a goal. We know parents are vital in setting up good exercise habits with kids and events like this help kids feel great about themselves and foster a sense of accomplishment.’

The father-of-four, who has a two-year-old son, Axel, with his partner Michelle Bridges, says the key to exercising with kids is making it fun. As father to Brianna, 18, Ella, Jack, six, and Axel, he’s had plenty of experience in getting kids off the sofa and into the backyard or local park.

‘Summer is the perfect time to get active, whether it’s in the pool, at the beach, on bikes or doing a bushwalk. Even setting up an obstacle course, playing frisbee, or doing squats but calling them frog jumps, gets kids moving.’

As well as promoting fitness and combating our obesity epidemic, Steve says good exercise habits help kids both mentally and emotionally.

The series is open to kids aged between seven and 15. To register for the Weet-bix Tryathlon in February, go to tryathlon.com.au.