To date, the fastest growing demographic of my personal training business is tweens, specifically girls and boys 10 to 13 years old. Snapshot of my typical work day consists of fit mom training until about 1pm, later followed with junior high school students walking into the club, after school is released, ready to sweat with me.
As inactivity in children rises, and more and more medical studies reveal childhood obseity's staggering rates, worried parents need help. According the the American Council of Exercise, today's preteen's are expected to have a shorter lifespan than that of their parents. Even scarier, our world is full of empty calories that fuel kids inproperly, who later sit in front of video games and computers, while they grow overweight, and even obese.
While training and fitness coaching is extremeley beneficial for impresionable kids, make sure you get the facts in-order to be the best fitness advocate for your kids.
My 2nd Annual Fit Girls Camp learn fromTri-Athlete, Trainer and Fit Mom Kara Gibson
Be a Role Model
Our kids see what we eat and know what we do. How can we expect them to move their bodies and make valuable nutrition choices if we don't? Work together as family to develop smart health habits.
Fitness Experts
If you decide to have your child work with a fitness expert, do your homework.The best match for kids fitnss is a trainer who has experince and education with that specific age group, who can also serve a positive role model for younger clients.
Size Versus Health
When introducng the idea of launching a fitness program to your kids, try your best to avoid words such as size and weight. Moving and proper nutrition is about health and energy, how we feel, and not how we look.
Weight Training
As science shows that resistance training torches fat and raises metoblic levels, kids should avoid lifting heavy weights and body building, until their bodies are mature and their motor skills are refined. To reduce injury to their skeletal sytem, kids should perform exercises using light weights or tubing, that focus on form, fluidity and control.
Get Their Opinion
Find out what they enjoy to do, to ensure a positive outcome. It is never fun to make anyone, adult or child, do a fitness activity such as a spin class, when sitting on a bike for an hour may seem mundane to them. The most important message you want your kids to understand is that physical movement is not a punishment... Fitness is fun!
It is fun to move... ask my daughter!
Medical Evaluation:
Like any sport, always consult wtih your pediatrician before having your son or daughter work with a trainer or begins a new fitness program, and get their opinion.
Lisa is a local fitness expert and proud Mom of 2, with a passion to inspire Moms and kids to be healthy and fit. When she is not training her clients, or developing cutting-edge wellness programming exclusively for La Camarilla Racquet & HealthClub, she shares her knowledge in many national fitness magazines and websites such as Oxygen, Max Muscle, M&F Hers and Brooke Burke’s ModernMom.com. www.LisaRobinsFitness.com
