What is children's fitness and is it worth doing it
Miscellaneous / / April 05, 2023
It all depends on what goals you are pursuing.
What is children's fitness
Children's fitness is group classes for children of different ages that combine elements of sports and rhythmic gymnastics, aerobics, and choreography.
The workout can also include strength training with your body weight or light weights, martial arts and yoga moves. Often during classes, step platforms, fitballs, cones and barriers are used to overcome obstacles.
Exercises alternate with outdoor games: children depict animals, catch and throw balls, overcome obstacles, and learn dance elements.
Classes are held in small groups, formed from children of different ages, approximately coinciding in terms of development. As a rule, children aged 3–6, 7–10 and 11–14 years old train together.
The duration of the lesson depends on age and varies from 30 minutes for preschoolers to an hour for teenagers.
Also, some fitness clubs offer workouts for kids under three years old, but such classes are held together with their parents. As for teenagers over 14 years old, they can already choose adult group programs.
At the same time, there is no single standard for fitness classes for children, and each coach decides for himself how to compose classes, what exercises and games to use.
What is good children's fitness
Due to smartphones and computers, today's children are much less mobile than previous generations. They are much less likely to play outdoors, and the older they get, the more time they spend in a motionless pose in front of the screen.
At the same time, children from 6 to 17 years old necessary 60 minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity per day. If the fitness trainer takes into account the age characteristics of the wards and correctly selects the load, classes will help:
- Build Endurance. Children will walk, run, jump, play outdoor games. Working at an elevated heart rate will pump the heart and lungs and help develop overall endurance.
- Train muscles and strengthen bones. Both cardio and strength exercises with your body weight or light weights contribute to this.
- Protect against excess weight gain. 30-60 minutes of activity will help lower your blood sugar and burn more calories.
- Develop flexibility, agility and speed. Dance and gymnastic elements pump coordination, fitball exercises and jumping over obstacles develop a sense of balance and agility, yoga and stretching movements improve flexibility. Thanks to this, even during games, children develop different motor skills.
- Improve academic success. Physical activity improves memory and attention, which contributes to academic success and reduces the risk of depression.
- socialize. Training takes place in small groups, the fitness trainer tries to pay attention to all students, and specific achievements do not really matter. In the long term, this creates a friendly atmosphere in which the child will be comfortable and have fun.
Perhaps, outdoor games with peers on the street will do just as well with maintaining a normal weight, socialization and developing endurance. However, many modern parents are afraid to leave preschoolers and younger students unattended, and teenagers sit in front of gadget screens a lot instead of playing or at least walking.
Children's fitness is a guarantee that the child will spend time actively and safely, develop different motor skills and at the same time have fun.
What is wrong with children's fitness
Children's fitness has several serious drawbacks:
- Lack of a single standard. Classes can include anything, and it is not possible to evaluate their effectiveness.
- The risk of running into a bad coach. Despite the fact that the coaches by law obliged have a secondary or higher education and meet professional standards, some fitness clubs take people who have completed short distance courses in order to save money. Such a person may not know the characteristics of the development of children at different ages, give too much or too little load, and do a poor job of motivating students.
- No specification. In sports sections, even young children learn basic skills specific to a particular sport. Little gymnasts perform exercises on the uneven bars, dancers learn to move to the music, fighters master simple strokes. This helps them to excel in their sport or art later on, which keeps them motivated to play in their teens and possibly for the rest of their lives.
If you want your child to develop in a specific direction, it is better to immediately send him to a special section. If you think that he does not need sports or he himself does not show interest in any of his types, children's fitness can be a great option.
How to try these activities
Find a children's fitness section in your city and check if it has trainer education and experience working with children.
If all is well, sign up for classes in an age-appropriate group. Unlike sports sections, you can start going to children's fitness at any time, and not only from the beginning of the year.
Before starting classes, it is worth visiting a pediatrician to find out if the child can be engaged. In a fitness club, you are unlikely to be asked for a certificate - this is not done in many sports sections. However, for your own peace of mind, it is better to make sure that the child is healthy.
As for the form, for children's fitness you only need comfortable sportswear and sneakers. Dumbbells, mats, fitballs, balls and other equipment for classes are provided by clubs.
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