Kids physical fitness - top ten tips

Select the right equipment, sign them up for swimming class, and fit with them.

By David Leonhardt

Like most parents, you are probably worried about the poor state of your kids' fitness...or their total lack of fitness altogether. Very few children get the exercise they need these days, with the lure of so many screens with so many functions, coming in almost as many sizes. The result is a legacy of youth obesity in kids as young as six years old and well into their teens.

To help you cope with your kids' missing fitness, we offer ten tips you can apply in your kid's life before it is too late:

A) Kick them out. It is a proven fact that kids who are throwing balls, skipping rope, chasing each other and climbing on structures are more fit than kids who sit around the house. Just one detail...don't kick their cell phones and their iPods and their other anti-fitness equipment out with them.

B) Try more physical playing with your children. Chase your kids around. Bonus, you get exercise too.

C) Make Christmas a celebration of fitness. No, don't chase your kids up the tree...just give them some fitness toys instead of toys they would play sitting down.

D) Make fitness a family affair. You have probably already noticed how hard it is to find time to do things together as a family. This is your golden opportunity. The element of peer pressure (the whole family is going, so you can't skip out) will help the kids keep on track. And let's face the facts - it's not easy to keep fit when you are a parent. So why not find a family fitness center near you?

Hydraulic fitness equipment for your kids

E) Choose hydraulic fitness equipment for your kids. You will normally find these only at fitness centers (another reason to make fitness a family affair) What makes hydraulics special, is that they don't need to be adjusted for each child. The resistance depends on the force exerted. So your 6 year old, who pushes with less intensity, will face less resistance than your 12 year old, who will face more. This is far superior to weights, where you have to keep adjusting the amount of weight until you get it right.

F) Try circuit training. This is also best done at a fitness center, because circuit training involves a variety of machines, all set up in a circuit. Kids accustomed to computer games, are less likely to be bored by circuit training, because they are constantly on the move from one machine to the other.

G) Sign them up for an organized physical activity, one where they will develop a sense of accomplishment . That sense of accomplishment is the motivation that keeps them going. It does not need to be competitive, but it does need to provide them with goals to work for. For example, sign them up for a dance class where there is a show to practice for at the end of the year. Or a swimming class where they can achieve various levels right up to certified life guard.

H) Don't just sign your kids up for a physical activity. Have them practice it at home...only, don't call it practice. That sounds too much like homework. Ask them instead to show you how good they are. That sounds a lot more like showing off and getting quality attention. (The ask them to show Aunt Penelope and cousin Bart and the next door neighbor and...)

I) Unplug the TV. If you can't limit their watching to an hour a day, limit the days on which you plug it in. Ditto for the computer and any other addictive screen-based electronic gadget.

J) Your kids won't like me for this one, but give your kids more household chores...specifically those that involve physical activity like mowing, raking and vacuuming. Caveat: this means that you will have to find new forms of exercise (but I think we covered that in the chasing your kids around and taking them to a family fitness center.

K) Walk more in real life. Do you take the stairs or the escalators? Well, so do your kids. Take them on the healthy route. Do you park near to a store (where your car will get dinged by other car doors) and deprive your kids and yourself from your rightful walking? Or do you park far away from the store where your car is safe from dents and where your kids and you are safe from inertia.

Oops. That's eleven. Oh well, you get a bonus tip.

So just what is a parent to do? Chase your kids right onto hydraulic fitness equipment at the nearest circuit-training workout gym, give them more fitness-oriented equipment for Christmas (instead of the latest screen-based do-hicky) and have your children get involved in more of the household chores.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Learn more about kids and youth fitness equipment, or about other hydraulic fitness equipment for circuit training. The writer is David Leonhardt , a professional freelance SEO writer.

Keeping Your Kids Active

Keeping kids active today is becoming increasingly difficult. Most parents blame video and computer games for this, as well as the Internet in general. While those things have certainly contributed to a more sedentary lifestyle, it is really up to the parents to keep children active as much as possible. One of the best ways to do this is to stay active with them. Young children often play outside with others in the neighborhood, but there are some children that do not fit in with their peers, and there are also children that grow up in neighborhoods where there are no other children or where it is not safe to play outside without adults.

For these children, and for others that are not getting enough exercise, parents must work to keep them active. Taking them to the park is helpful, but after a while this ceases to be interesting, so parents must find other ways of ensuring that their children stay active. One way to do this is to have them take a class such as martial arts or ballet where they will get consistent exercise. If a parent can take the class with them, that is even better, but some classes are designed only for children. Naturally, a kid should not be forced to enroll in something that he or she will not enjoy, regardless of whether exercise is needed.

For children that do not want to enroll in this kind of structured activity, though, there are other options. Playing Frisbee or horseshoes or badminton with parents or other relatives can help a kid stay active, as can outdoor play with friends. This does not mean that a child should be forbidden to play video games or watch television. However, the time spent doing those things should be limited. This is especially true if the kid is not in a physical education class at school or if he or she makes no effort at all to get any kind of exercise. Children that stay active are less likely to be obese, and they often have fewer health problems as they get older, making staying active very important for them both now and in the future.

About The Author

Dave Roth runs a leading outdoor game and sports product site that sells horsehoes, volleyball, and cornhole gear, go to http://www.corntossmania.com right away.

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