It’s ab-surd.
Over Thanksgiving weekend, country singer Jessie James Decker caused a stir when she posted photos to Instagram of her ridiculously fit kids, whom she shares with her husband, former Jets receiver Eric Decker, 35.
The Deckers’ children — Vivianne, 8, Eric Jr., 7, and Forrest, 4 — were enjoying a family vacation in Mexico, frolicking on a palm tree-lined beach in swimsuits. The kids appeared playful, happy — and totally ripped with tanned six-packs that seemed to suggest the munchkins were bulking up on protein shakes instead of nibbling PB&Js.
Online commenters were quick to accuse the 34-year-old mom of digitally editing six-packs onto her kids’ stomachs, or, worse yet, overtraining and underfeeding them.
“It’s the ‘mommy starves us’ diet plan” one wrote, while another alleged, “Yeah they’re working those kids to the bone dude no way around it.”
James Decker defended her buff babies, calling such assertions “bonkers” and crediting their ripped physiques to athletic genes and an active lifestyle.
“How bizarre our world has gotten regarding the body and what’s normal and what’s not,” she wrote in a follow-up Instagram post. She went on to note that Vivianne participates in “elite competitive gymnastics,” while Eric Jr. has football aspirations and Forrest dances for hours each day.
Experts say the Decker kids’ bodies aren’t exactly normal, but they’re not necessarily unhealthy either.
“If you take any swath of society, there will be extremes on both ends. Even 47-year-old men: Some will be extremely ripped and another guy will look like he doesn’t have a muscle in his body. It’s the bell curve,” Mike Manzo, a physical therapist and co-founder of Atlantic Physical Therapy Center in New Jersey, told The Post. “The kids clearly won the genetic lottery.”
The children are also products of their environment and what’s likely a family in which fitness is stressed. “It’s what the kids are seeing around the house,” said Manzo. “Maybe the Deckers are workout people and they are always doing something to stay fit.”
Manzo doesn’t know what exactly the Decker kids are doing to achieve their sculpted abs, but he does note that children are increasingly being prematurely pushed into intense training regimens. Early specialization in a single sport has led to a rise in overuse injuries.
“We are seeing strength training from a younger age,” Manzo continued. “There’s a cottage industry of pricey athletic training facilities, which comes with the promise of athletic scholarships that will most likely never materialize.”
He said kids as young as 7 are undertaking resistance or weight training when they should be focused on foundational movements such as crawling, jumping, lunging, squatting, pushing and pulling — especially when their bodies are changing so rapidly. There is no magic age when kids can start hitting the weight room, but Manzo said once they have command of their movements, then it’s okay to add light weights.
A good rule of thumb is that the number of hours each week that a child focuses on a specific sport should not exceed their age. For instance, an 8-year-old should play no more than eight hours of soccer each week.
“You don’t want repetition on the same muscles,” he said, adding that kids benefit physically from simple childhood pleasures. “When you play tag, ride bikes and climb a tree, that’s what a human body should be doing at that age.”