Interview with Renita Lobo
In this episode, we will uncover 3 keys:
- Incorporating Movement in Daily Life
- Using Family and Fun to Encourage Activity
- Redefining Aging and Physical Activity
Podcast Transcription
Episode 52: Stronger Together: Family Fitness Tips to Boost Health | Renita Lobo
Intro
Odiva Vasell (00:32):
Welcome, my fabulous fempreneurs! I am so excited to have here with me today Renita Lobo, and she is a woman who has lived through trying to take care of your body and get yourself on a fitness program when everything else in your life could be going to chaos. So, there are no excuses anymore! We’re gonna learn a lot today from Renita. Welcome! Welcome, Renita.
Renita Lobo (01:08):
Hi! I’m so happy to be here, Odiva. Thank you for having me.
Odiva Vasell (01:14):
You’re very, very welcome. This is a topic that we haven’t gone deep into before. And hey, summer’s here! This is the time that people start thinking about, “Hey, maybe I could add something a little extra to my regime.” You know, the heavy winter coat is gone—can I add something extra to my regime to really get my body back? And maybe not to where it was when I was 18, but get it back stronger. And I understand you have a passion for working with families.
Renita Lobo (02:00):
I do.
Odiva Vasell (02:02):
Tell us a little bit about that. How does that work?
Incorporating Movement in Daily Life
Renita Lobo (02:07):
So, it started—so, I have loved fitness. I started dancing, and I was a professional dancer practically right out of school, as a teenager. I started teaching and coaching right along from there. I used to do professional dancing and teach dance, even from that age—I was teaching everybody.
Life went on, and slowly, with that, I became a personal trainer and started getting more into the fitness aspect of it. Because with dance, you get injuries, especially professional dancers—they are leaping all over the place! So, I became a personal trainer and an occupational therapist to counter that, so I could do it on my own and help everybody that I was working with.
Along the way, I started losing flexibility, so I joined yoga, started doing stretches, and became a yoga instructor. That was my life—just moving from one aspect of fitness to another, and I just couldn’t live without it. Then, I had two darling little kids of my own, and life changed drastically for me. Both were challenging pregnancies. For my second, I was on bed rest for the entire time. After that, trying to get back was a really big challenge.
With two kids and being a single mom, it started getting really hard. I realized I was putting fitness on the back burner—”I’ll do it tomorrow.” No, no, no! “We don’t need to do it today. I’ll focus on the kids.” And then another thing—something I never thought about—I did not want to leave my kids. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to work out, but I just could not leave my kids with someone to work out alone. I wanted them with me.
So, I started trying to get them involved, and it became something we all started having fun with together. Initially, it was hard. I’ve had my challenges. I’ve even told them that they were young. I’ve been an international welding coach—I’ve taught all over the world. And then I had two little kids questioning everything I did—”But why?”
We’ve had our little challenges along the way, where I said, “You know what? I’m going to go forward on my own today.” But then, we got back together. With trial and error, I started doing a lot of work from the mindset point of view—understanding them, trying to put things together, and figuring things out. Eventually, we started working well as a team.
That doesn’t mean I’m only doing workouts for a five-year-old—because that’s when I really started doing it. I’m not doing the workout of a five-year-old—I’m doing what I need to do, and they are doing what they need to do. Sometimes it’s a game. One thing we used to call “the solar system”—I would be doing push-ups, so I was the center, the sun. They would be running around, maybe skipping. Sometimes, I’ve even done push-ups with them sitting on top of me for added weight.
Getting them involved and working with them has really changed our relationship. There was a time when we could have actually split because I had a really tough breakup with their father, and life was really hard at that time. But I found a way to overcome that challenge.
Now, we even work out with my parents, so it’s a multi-generational workout! It’s not just me and my kids—my parents, who are currently over 80, also join in. We’ve tried to do different things together, and it has truly changed our lives.
Odiva Vasell (07:20):
Wow! This is great, this is great! I mean, I didn’t even think of how the levels could be—something for the parents, something for the grandparents, and the kids—bringing everybody together. Now, this is so important because, well, kids are gonna be active anyway. They’re gonna be running around anyway.
So if you have a program where they can channel that energy, then Mom also gets an opportunity to get her workout in and get her goals done. And then, on the other hand, with the grandparents, they need to stay active and mobile in order for their mind and body—not just their mental health, but their mental well-being—to be maintained. So you found a way to do that! I applaud you for that.
And let’s go a little bit deeper. Like, how hard was it at the beginning? Where is it now? How old are they now, and how old were they when you started?
Renita Lobo (08:35):
So when we started, I actually started with my son while I was pregnant. I was on bed rest, and I still wanted to be a little active, so we took him out of daycare.
I stopped—I used to be a personal trainer at the gym at that time—and we stopped, and he was at home with me. Even though I couldn’t move, I was getting him to be active and do things. I also developed a way that he could help his learning capacity through movement because children are kind of static.
So, growth, learning, and everything—I was able to incorporate it into that little mini program. We started really young. My daughter was born into it and did small things. Like, I actually have—so, we have a fitness ball at home, and I love the fitness ball, the stability ball. So when she was like 18 months or whatever—I think in months at that time—I used to give her a balloon. She used to copy me with a balloon.
Like, if I held it between my legs, she would hold it between her legs. We would do different things, and it worked. From there, I actually got a lot of experience because I liked what I was doing, and I approached her school. Then I started teaching classes of kids, and that was really something else.
So I got a lot of experience teaching children because I taught not only her—I was teaching everybody in the school. That’s when I started incorporating it more and more. And then Covid hit. We were all stuck at home, and that’s the time I actually wrote my book. I have it right here—it’s called Power Play: The Super You Fitness Face.
So it’s about the family workout in the house. We changed our arrangement—I put the couch, which would normally be on the wall, inward, like in the center of the room. We got it like a divider, and the kids would start jumping over them. So we created like sockets—even to go to the bedroom, to go to the kitchen. I got a little swing—like what we have in yoga, the yoga silks—so in order to go to the kitchen, before we went in, they would have to do a little climb.
So we changed our whole workout, and that’s when my program really got consolidated, and we went on from there. Now, my son is 14—he’s actually taller than I am—and my daughter is 11. We still go down to work out in the park.
For me, the time that I felt—which has been a struggle—was when they kept saying, “No, we don’t wanna do it, no this, and no that.” And then it came to a time when I still remember—I was sleeping. It was a snowy day, and at that time, my daughter must have been six. She came running into the room—it was like 6:30 in the morning—waking me up and saying, “Come on, we have to go down and work out!”
And I was the one who didn’t want to do it that day. But she said, “No! I want to be down with the sunrise!” She wanted to see the sunrise. So we got up, we got ready, we went down, we did our workout, and we sat on the swings in the park and saw the sunrise.
For me, if you include the children in a motivational way, they can be your accountability buddies.
Using Family and Fun to Encourage Activity
Odiva Vasell (12:53):
Yes, okay. That’s an interesting concept—having an accountability buddy. And no one can be a better accountability buddy than your kids. Because when you tell them, “Hey, this is important for your health,” and then one day you say, “No, I don’t feel like doing it,” you hear that same lecture coming back to you, right?
Renita Lobo (13:22):
That was it, and then, like—because she was pushing me—I pushed myself. That would have definitely been a day when I just curled up in bed.
It was—there was—I do have a picture of it, actually. But the… like, we’re—I’m in Canada, so we had snow. We had a dump of, like, I don’t know how much snow, and so we were actually doing push-ups in the snow and things on the benches. And so that’s what… and it is more the fun of it, and it goes beyond everything.
So why do I have a passion for it? I have it for two reasons. When I was a personal trainer, I found that there were certain challenges that we, as adults, face that are chronic—like lower back pain, knee challenges, shoulders. A lot of people come to me in their 30s, 40s, and 50s with those challenges, and if I really ask them, “What happened?”—
“Oh, but I’ve always walked like this.”
“Oh, I’ve always had—everybody tells me that it’s tight.”
So my thing is that it started in the playground. Or it was like—I jumped off the monkey bars and landed wrong, and now I have this knee challenge for the rest of my life. Or I went headfirst down the slide and blew my elbow as a kid, and it hasn’t healed well.
So I am reaching out to the parents. The way I do it is—I’m not just your trainer and a know-it-all. I try to enable or empower you to know so much that you can help your kids, so they don’t get hurt. Then they’re enjoying it, you’re enjoying it. There are a few simple techniques that, if you can watch for—boom! You’ve learned, they’ve learned, and they’re tagging along. You’re making a legacy because they’re going to keep doing it.
Odiva Vasell (15:28):
Carry that around them—yes. And it’s interesting that you said—an interesting key point is the safety factor.
If they know how to fall—because they’re going to fall as kids—and you said it happens on the playground. If they learn how to stabilize their body and their movements at that age, and then going into the awkward teenage years…
I remember being very clumsy and bumping into tables that had been there in my house the whole time. But for some reason—your body’s longer, and you’re not used to it. Yeah, we’re trying to figure out, “Why did I walk into that?”
And so, yeah, if you really think about it and emphasize to the parents—”Hey, this is something that will give you peace of mind because your kids are going to stay healthy, and they’re going to know how to control their body movements.”
That is key.
Renita Lobo (16:34):
Jump—something so simple. Like, everybody’s knees buckle. There is a thing, yes, let them be kids, but if they know that little bit, and if their muscles are strong enough, it happens naturally.
So that’s the thing—it’s just a few pointers. People don’t move or adjust their posture that little bit, and no one told them. So then, through the years, it just goes slightly off tangent.
Odiva Vasell (17:04):
Yes, yes.
Renita Lobo (17:05):
And the other thing that I really am passionate about, that I have discovered, is this—because there’s so much joy, if you are able to be flexible with the planning of it, there is so much joy that it creates a really strong bond.
You get the happy hormones, you create memories in their nervous system that really, really affect your relationship with them—and the way they see the world. The confidence.
Odiva Vasell (17:40):
The confidence, yes.
Renita Lobo (17:41):
Yes! They’re there with their mom. They’re there with their dad. That support system takes them into their university years.
And I know I had that because my parents—my dad was very active. We used to be playing, and I have those memories, which is why I have continued it into my generation and beyond.
And I find that now, my children tell me everything—what’s happening in school, even the tough ones, too. Like, the tough ones when they actually say, “You know what? I think I made a mistake. I could have… I didn’t do that. I should have done that.” Or even—”I like this person,” or, “I like that person.”
And that’s part of their lives. And that’s such a joy.
Odiva Vasell: (18:38)
That is fantastic! And I’ve always emphasized every time I talk to a specialist who is dealing with kids and parenting. I always emphasize that you need to have what I call “nothing time” with your kids. I had never thought of it quite this way, but I was thinking back, you know, to my childhood and then when I’ve seen—when I worked in an elementary school—and I’ve seen parents with their kids.
And now, more than ever, everybody is on a device. They’re going to the beach to play, but they’re recording this and recording that, and the kids are posing. And it’s like, “Hey, what happened to just going? What about the sand and the sea? What about enjoying that?”
So you’re talking about creating a memory—a physical memory. Kinesthetics is when the kids look at their fingers, and instead of just saying, “One, two, three,” they get to remember by using their fingers. And now, these kids—your kids—have made this memory with you, this bond with you. Because instead of you going off to the gym by yourself for an hour or two, they get two hours of your time.
Renita Lobo: (20:06)
Yes.
Odiva Vasell: (20:07)
On an almost daily basis.
Renita Lobo: (20:08)
And it’s time-saving! It’s like two or three things for the price of one.
Odiva Vasell: (20:14)
Yes.
Renita Lobo: (20:15)
Time slot.
Odiva Vasell: (20:16)
‘Cause you’ve got these tired kids who will go to sleep sooner.
Renita Lobo: (20:22)
Yeah, hopefully! And then you get your alone time too.
Odiva Vasell: (20:26)
Yes, yeah.
Renita Lobo: (20:27)
So it has really worked. There are times when they won’t, but they will. Even now, because of that, my son has a challenge. He’s like, “Hey, I want to try this workout. I want to try this exercise. Can we do it together?”
So, if he finds out—so, I am not saying that this should be your only workout. That’s like, say, one day a week or two days a week. Or if you can manage more, great! But you do need some more. So, I very often get up earlier than the kids, and I go and do a little bit of my own workout in the mornings.
And my son, if he wants to, will wake up with me, and he will do a double dose because he just likes that time. So he’s learning how to set that routine—the early morning routine where you’re getting up—because most teens want to chill. Most teens like to sleep in.
So he does get up on some days. I don’t force him to, and we still work out together. I’m helping him with soccer—just basic exercises. So it’s not that I’m playing soccer with him; I’m doing a workout to help enable him to get stronger for soccer, and then he can go.
So he goes for his soccer in the evening. My daughter goes for her own things. So we have our time apart, and we have the time together.
Redefining Aging and Physical Activity
Odiva Vasell: (21:59)
Yes! Let me just interject here.
When you say you don’t force them—because there are parents who think, “Oh, this is good for the kids. Okay, let me do it. Come on, kids, you have to do this!”—one of the great things is that you started this when they were really young and wanted to spend time with you.
So you’re not coming in during the teenage years and saying, “Hey, come on, we have to do this. You have to, you know, get fit.” And then they’re like, “Well, why are you trying to spend time with me when we never did it before?”
There’s nothing worse than trying to force a teenager to do something.
And when you said that, you reminded me of an Instagram video. Apparently, this man—I didn’t see him, but I saw his mother. His mother was diagnosed with arthritis in her knees, and the doctor told her, “This is it. This quits.”
And the son invited her to the gym with him. And now—oh my goodness!—this lady, she’s doing that… I don’t know what that thing is called when you take these heavy ropes and you—
Renita Lobo: (23:16)
Oh yeah!
Odiva Vasell (23:17):
Yeah, she’s doing that, and she does deadlifts and presses with amazing weights. She’s become super strong. I believe, yeah, she was in India, and she’s become this super strong woman who goes to the gym with her son. I can just imagine the bond they’ve created there.
Now, before I saw this video, I invited my mom to come with me to a Pilates class. What had happened was she had an injury on her foot, and I started to see her limping. I would ask her, “Is the foot in pain? Is it hurting?” or “No?” But it just started to sink into her mind—”Oh, I have to be very careful with this foot.”
So she would lean and limp, and I said, “Oh, I cannot let this continue. This is becoming psychological, and it’s becoming a habit.” At some point, she was feeling weaker because of this small injury. So I took her to an expert to evaluate her, and they were like, “She can do everything! She can do squats, she can do this, this—because she’s always done it.”
She’s always been a very strong and physical person, whether it be cleaning or something like that—especially things that I told her not to do, like climbing up on ladders when I’m not there or not looking. She’s doing it, and I mentioned that to you before.
So now, I took her to the first class, and she complained a little bit, like, “Oh, I’m really feeling it.” And now, she’s like, “When is the next time we can go to the gym?”
And another interesting thing about it is the person that evaluated her said, “Oh, I’ll just give you a printout, and she can do it at home.” But I’ve been through that before—physiotherapist prints it out, and you do it at home. Home is a different place.
Renita Lobo (25:39):
Yes.
Odiva Vasell (25:40):
If you’re not used to thinking of your home as a gym, you’re not going to stop what you’re doing at home—especially if you are literally OCD and love cleaning the way she does. You’re not going to stop what you’re doing and start doing some leg lifts.
So what happened is, we do it at the gym, and she’s like, “Oh, I feel it. I feel it here.”
Renita Lobo (26:05):
That’s awesome.
Odiva Vasell (26:08):
In her core! It’s bonding time for us as well.
Renita Lobo (26:13):
Yes! It becomes such a special time.
My daughter actually loves swinging, so that’s how I started the process. I know you said it earlier—I wanted to work out, and she wanted to swing. So we said, “Do what I say first, then we’ll go swing.”
So our cool-down is always the swing. We are lucky because our swings face the sunrise. So we are swinging, and we play this certain, specific music—like motivational and really nice songs. Even the kids love them, like Disney songs, which have so many great ones. We play those, we sing, we swing, and then we go to school.
Odiva Vasell (27:08):
I like what you’re saying about this. You’re talking about a reward system—a very small reward system for doing the thing that I like. And it just becomes a routine.
Renita Lobo (27:18):
And we just kept compromising. So she knows that I would much rather do the workout and whatever, but I’m swinging with her. So, okay, fine. And she knows the workout is going to help her too.
Odiva Vasell (27:30):
Okay, now tell us about your parents.
You said you’ve gotten your parents into it. I mean, you could be the world’s greatest track and field runner—everything fitness—but telling your parents what to do, especially after the age of 80, doesn’t always go down very well.
Renita Lobo (27:51):
That’s taking time. We don’t always work out with them, but what happens is I’ve given them things—so it’s a little bit more like how you would say with the physiotherapist and the routine. They have it at home because I don’t stay with them, and that is something they can do.
But when we go over, especially now—so earlier on, we started off because my dad used to be an athlete. He was a very good runner and sprinter. So the way I got him into it was that I asked my dad to help coach my son.
Even though my dad couldn’t walk—he’s got a walker—he would tell my son how to run faster and give him techniques. So, in that way, he is willingly coming down into the playground to teach my son. He’s feeling as if he’s helping out. He’s in a position of being important and needed.
Then we do walks together, and we do different things together. He talks about his entire journey, so we get a lot of stories. But at the same time, my son is getting coached, my dad is working out, and it all becomes a thing.
In addition, I also give them certain things to do at home. Sometimes, when we go over, we all do it together. The kids see the kids doing it—like therapy bands, small weights—and we work out together in the living room and things like that.
Odiva Vasell: (29:45)
And if I can reiterate, one of the key things is: use the grandchildren to get the grandparents. There’s nothing better than that.
Renita Lobo: (29:57)
Yes. And my mom is a little different. My mom is not into sports; she doesn’t like exercising, but she loves dancing. So we get a dance party going, and then, even if she’s sitting down, she’s still moving and enjoying herself. It’s the mood that rises along with everything, and then we slide in a few leg raises and twists.
Odiva Vasell: (30:28)
She’s not doing—she’s not doing the ropes yet? Oh, wow! Wow, that’s—that’s great! That’s fantastic. I mean, I was looking at this woman—I think she’s in her 60s—doing these exercises, and I thought I would never do that. But now, I gotta up my game and try that routine. And I was like, wow!
So, I love all this advice that you’ve given us and the strategies. And of course, I will be, you know, promoting the book in the description. So I just wanna thank you for inspiring us to kind of just get moving. It’s summertime—let’s get moving little by little.
I guess before we wrap it up, I will add that I started gardening, which is great, but I was bending, bending, bending all the time. I did not realize how bad that was. And once I learned from my Pilates instructor and other people the importance of bending correctly, now I have a challenge to do squats. I try to never do this anymore because I can feel this muscle strain that I didn’t know was there. But now I know it, and I try to squat to go down to the cabinet instead of bending.
Just those little things—little additions to your regular routine—make a difference.
Renita Lobo: (32:06)
Yes! They can change the quality of your life, and that’s what I’m passionate about. As we move forward, the way it used to be, everyone would say, “Oh, I’m old,” and just put their hands up—”Oh, I’m old.” But that’s not it!
You can maintain a much higher standard of living and quality of life. You can play with the grandkids—maybe even beat them in a few things here and there! And that really makes a difference moving forward for everything.
Odiva Vasell: (32:45)
Thank you so much today, Renita.
Renita Lobo: (32:50)
Thank you so much! Thank you—thank you for having me. It’s been a pleasure.
[music]
Conclusion
Staying active doesn’t have to be complicated—it’s all about finding ways to move that bring joy and fit into daily life. Whether it’s dancing with family, making small posture adjustments, or even getting inspired by others who push their limits, every little effort adds up. Aging doesn’t mean slowing down; it’s an opportunity to embrace movement in fun and meaningful ways. So, let’s keep moving, stay engaged, and enjoy the energy and connection that come with an active lifestyle!