Physical Fitness Plans for Children

Just like adults, kids need physical activity to stay healthy. At a time when childhood obesity is on the rise — affecting more than 12 million kids in the U.S. alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — staying active is more important than ever to combat this growing problem. Developing a fitness plan for children is a bit different than creating one for adults, however. To keep kids engaged and wanting to come back for more, they need a routine that is diverse, fun and age-appropriate, giving them just the right amount of challenge.
Physical Fitness Plans for Children

Aerobic Activity

  • According to MayoClinic.com, kids 6 and older need about an hour of physical activity each day, with most of this in the form of aerobic, or cardio, activity. This type of exercise can benefit children’s heart health, help them maintain a healthy weight and lessen their risk for diabetes and other illnesses. While organized aerobic activities, like a class or DVD, offer sufficient exercise, these may not hold their interest as much as other types of cardio. Activities like brisk walking, hiking, bicycling, swimming, roller skating or playing sports like soccer or basketball are all considered aerobic in nature, and most children enjoy doing these things. Finding exercises that your child enjoys is key, and you can develop their fitness plan around these.

Strength Training

  • Strength training isn’t all about hitting the weight room and hoisting barbells over your head. With kids, you need to take a different approach when it comes to exercises that build and strengthen their muscles. Exercises that use their own body weight are usually sufficient, and these can be done in the form of pushups, pullups, squats or lunges. Tug-of-war or rowing also builds muscles, and cardio activities like skating or bicycling double as strength training exercises. If you do want to incorporate weights or other equipment into the routine, be sure to use light weights, gradually increasing the weight or resistance as your child becomes stronger. As part of a larger fitness plan, these types of activities should be done two to three times per week.

Flexibility

  • Most children are naturally pretty flexible, but doing activities and exercises to maintain this is an important part of a fitness routine. Being flexible improves range of movement and posture, promotes physical and mental relaxation and can lessen children’s chances of injury in other activities. Kid-friendly flexibility exercises include basic stretches, like touching toes or reaching to the ceiling, but activities like gymnastics, tumbling, dance, martial arts and yoga also count toward flexibility exercises. These types of activities should be done every day, even if it’s just a series of simple stretches at the end of other exercises.

Bone Strengthening

  • The CDC recommends bone-strengthening activities three days a week for children. This type of exercise is typically done through ground impact, which puts force on the bones and stimulates growth and strength. Some activities that will do this are jumping rope, running, tennis or hopscotch; essentially, any movement that results in impact will serve as a bone-strengthening exercise. So challenge your kids to a game of jump rope or hop scotch to strengthen bones and have fun.

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