Joe Wicks On Trying To Break A Tough Generational Cycle As A Parent

When Joe Wicks and I sit down for a Teams meeting, we’re both fighting off one of the many winter illnesses that have been doing the rounds of late.

We’re here to chat about why kids should sign up for the TCS Mini London Marathon in schools – but it’s another type of marathon that swiftly crops up in conversation, and that’s the momentous feat that is getting children into bed at the end of the day.

Joe, who is founder of The Body Coach (and also earned another title as the “nation’s PE teacher” during the pandemic), lives with his wife Rosie, and their four children: Indie, 7, Marley, 6, Leni, 3, and Dusty, 1.

Asked how he makes bedtime work, he lets me in on “one of the most incredible lightbulb moments” he had after someone he worked with asked him what his goals were, and he admitted he wanted to be more present around his kids.

Now, he has an alarm on his phone that goes off every day at 6pm, which he’s named “I am a phone-free dad”. At this point, he puts his phone away to focus on his kids.

“It’s changed my life because rather than be distracted and running to my phone and thinking about Instagram and checking DMs and memes, I see that time as their [my kids’] time and I’m not as stressed, and I’m more patient,” he says.

While the younger children fall asleep more quickly (and long may that continue!), Joe and Rosie aim to get their two older children in their bedrooms – that means pyjamas on, teeth brushed, stories read – between 7pm and 7.30pm.

As for when they actually fall asleep, well, that can take a while.

“I think, ‘yes I’ve read books with you two and everything’s good’ and I’ll go down to the kitchen for an hour and come back up and they’re still awake,” he admits. “And I’m like: ‘how are you still awake?’” (As someone whose eldest is still awake at 9pm most nights – despite all of the calming bedtime rituals – this is music to my ears.)

The couple started homeschooling their eldest child, Indie, in 2023, and now they also homeschool Marley. The older children also attend a forest school twice a week.

“It’s a challenge, it’s not as easy as it looks,” says Joe of homeschooling. “You can imagine trying to get two kids to sit and focus, while the other two babies are running around and kicking off, screaming and hungry and stuff.

“You’ve got to be flexible with it, but it brings a certain independence and freedom to learn what you want and have days out.”

That said, he notes this is “really stressful” and “takes so much patience” as the children “want to resist and do anything but learning”.

“I think sometimes 20 minutes of focused learning is the same as, like, an hour in the classroom with 30 kids, so you don’t need to be doing hours and hours of focused concentration for them to be learning,” he says, adding they’ll do everything from playing instruments to reading to cooking and having a kick about in the garden or heading to a skate park.

“It really isn’t easy, but I’m blessed we can do it,” he continues. “But it’s also the most challenging thing as you’re with them all the time and there’s no let-up.”

On the topic of no let-up, any parent will know that staying calm and regulated when your kids aren’t playing ball can be tricky at the best of times, but when you’re with them 24/7 – and you’ve asked them seven times to do one task, only to be ignored – it can be even more intense.

Discussing how he manages the trickier parenting moments, Joe admits he’s still learning: ”I’ve read books on this and I’m trying to change my natural instinct to be ‘fight or flight’ and [instead] be calm.

“But take my situation: there’s four kids in a house and it’s constantly messy, you’re trying to homeschool and run a business.”

He finds exercise helps keep him on an even keel – if he does a morning workout, he notices he feels he can “interact better” and is more patient.

“I feel really bad when I shout at my kids, but then I have to remind myself I am with them an un-normal amount of time,” he says.

“So, I just apologise, I say ‘I’m sorry I shouted, I’m really trying to stay calm’. And I keep reminding them: ‘when you’re calm, I’m calm. Let’s work together and keep the house nice and level.’

“But they’re still kids and toddlers, so they’re irrational sometimes. I think communicating after is really important.”

Joe has been incredibly open about his own upbringing – his dad struggled with addiction and his mum with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) – and he admits that his childhood was “very shouty, it was very impatient and intolerant, so I’m really trying to break the mould”.

“I hate how I feel when I lose control a little bit,” he adds. “But we are humans and kids can be the most annoying people on earth, so you have to be understanding I suppose, and a little bit more compassionate towards yourself.”

Social media seems to spawn a new parenting style (gentle parenting, FAFO parenting, air traffic control parenting) on a weekly basis. When I ask what his own approach to parenting is, Joe says: “I’m trying to always be the calm, wise owl – that’s my dream, that I’m respectful and I don’t swear and shout and get irritated and slam doors and run out of the house when it gets difficult.

“So, I suppose that’s my aim and my dream. And I’d say 60-70% of the time I am that guy. But then it’s the 40% of the time, it amplifies doesn’t it? Where you feel like: ′ahh I shout and I’ve lost it and I thought I was a really patient dad but underneath I’m not’. And it’s because my childhood was like that – I was shouted at all the time, it wasn’t a calm environment.

“I think we are a product of our childhood and our environment. I’m having to really refocus and remodel my default setting. My default is probably to shout and scream, but I’m trying my hardest to take a breath and take a moment. And it is exhausting. To be a calm parent is way more exhausting, because your brain is constantly being tensed and stressed and trying to resolve things.”

Exercise, sleep, a balanced diet – these are all important factors that can determine how Joe finds his stride each day as a parent. So, it’s perhaps no surprise that he’s on a mission to encourage more children to get moving after a long winter spent largely indoors.

The UK is in the grips of an “obesity epidemic” with one in 10 children in reception, and almost one in five kids in year 6, impacted. What’s more, rates of high blood pressure among children have doubled in the last 20 years, with poor diet, inactivity and obesity thought to be some of the key factors behind the rise.

“It breaks my heart when I see articles around inactivity levels increasing and schools getting budgets cut,” he says. “It feels so obvious that the answer to this problem is to get our kids moving more and really prioritise physical activity as opposed to cutting it out and reducing it.”

For his part, Joe is hoping to get thousands of kids moving this spring by encouraging them to take part in the TCS Mini London Marathon in schools.

The TCS Mini London Marathon is the biggest, free one-day children’s event in the UK. This year, it takes place on Saturday 25 April, with entries already sold out, and around 22,000 children aged 4-17 expected to take part in either the one mile or 2.6km distance around St James’s Park.

In 2022, the event was expanded to include all school children – the idea being they can take part in the two-mile event at their school or education setting.

The 2026 event runs from today until Friday 1 May, with schools able to sign-up here. The two miles can be done in one day or split over a number of days, per class or as a whole school.

“It’s such an easy win because most schools have a little bit of a field or an outdoor playground so they can do little loops and things,” says Joe.

Since 2020, more than one million children from across the UK have taken part and a record 2,039 schools registered to complete their own two-mile distance in 2025.

If your child’s on the fence about taking part, Joe has a special message for them: “Run, walk or wheel – it’s not about being this elite little runner and smashing it in five minutes, it’s just like the ‘daily mile’ in schools: it’s fun, it’s sociable, it’s a challenge, but you can cheer each other on and you can do it in your own time.

“You’ll feel so proud of yourself when you’ve finished it,” he adds. “You’ll feel energised, you’ll feel more focused, you’ll feel calmer. It’s not this competitive thing, it’s about doing something that day or week to boost your physical and mental health.”