As kids grow up, they need to lead an active lifestyle so they’ll continue to strengthen their bodies in the future. However, getting kids involved with fitness can be challenging as we move more and more into the digital age. After all, why would a child want to go outside and run around when they could instead play a video game? Perhaps a video game rewards them with the pleasure of unlocking achievements. If that sounds like your kid, maybe you should consider giving your children a form of real-life achievements too, such as gifting a young child with a sticker every time they complete their daily exercise goal. You can allow older children to work towards other things they might enjoy like ice cream or a later curfew.
The problem with many outside activities is that they just don’t seem to be as stimulating as things like video games, YouTube videos, and other technology-focused activities. Unfortunately, this attitude has a negative impact on youth fitness. The solution to this is to find healthy ways to get your kids out and about while keeping them stimulated so they don’t quit halfway through.
Our youth fitness classes here at Pulse Boxing and Fitness are a great place to start if you aren’t sure how to get your kids more active. But what exactly should your kids be doing to stay healthy?
What Kids Should Be Doing
Getting kids up and active is vitally important to their health and well-being in the future. Fortunately, schools put a big emphasis on kids’ fitness through programs and classes like physical education and allow for playtime outside during recess. However, most schools don’t allow for a full hour of physical activity daily, which is the recommended amount of time for kids to stay healthy.
Most of the physical activity that kids participate in should be aerobic, which means that kids should be doing activities like running, swimming, dancing, and more. These are activities that use a large range of muscles for long periods to help them become stronger.
What’s great about youth fitness activities is that children are naturally able to build up strong muscles and bones in their everyday play. When kids go out and play basketball, tag, jump rope, or any of the other day-to-day games that kids love to play, they’re building up to a fitness level that they’ll be able to carry with them into adulthood.
Why Kids Need to Participate in Fitness Activities
Can exercise benefit the brain as much as the body? Children depend on physical activity not only for their continued health but also for their mental development. Through physical activity and youth fitness programs, children learn the importance of sportsmanship, setting goals, teamwork, the importance of practice, and more.
Participating in teams or classes is important for children as well because they’re still figuring out how their bodies are supposed to move. Children start young learning how to do things like kicking, running, throwing, and more through participating in youth fitness activities like these. Sports also help children with their coordination, planning, strategizing, and more. Not only are they vital for physical fitness, but sports also are extremely important for developing as adults.
Getting Enrolled in Classes
While not all students will enjoy being in a team sport or club, fitness classes for kids and club sports are an easy and surefire way to ensure your child is getting the activity that they need. Here at Pulse Boxing and Fitness, we have a wide variety of fun activities for children to participate in to make sure they’re staying fit and active, even if they don’t get that activity time in school–our Mini Ninja Warriors class is always a popular option. We offer several different types of classes geared towards children from Pre-K to sixth grade to ensure that they’re getting the time they need to run around and have fun.
After-school programs are an easy and cost-effective way to get your children involved in sports, and club or little league teams can be found in nearly every city in some capacity. Whether the team goes on to play “official” games or not, these groups make for an excellent starting point for a child’s love of sports. You never know if that little league baseball team your child participates in at six years old may be the catalyst for a lifelong love of the game!
How Kids Can Stay Active at Home
While it’s definitely important for kids to be active at school and involved in fitness classes for kids, it’s equally important to stay active at home. After all, if you make physical activity a part of your day-to-day routine, your children will be more likely to continue that habit in the future!
There are many easy ways to get your child up and moving and even more ways that you can join them! For example, have you ever thought about doing chores as a way to get the whole family up and moving? Set a timer on your phone or another smart device, and turn it into a game to see how much you can get cleaned in a short amount of time. It’s sure to get your children—and you—up and running around to beat the clock.
You can also schedule other family outings like hiking, walking, biking, and more as a family. Not only will your child be able to get out and get active, but so will you! As an added bonus, you’ll even be able to spend some quality time with your family in a way that gets everyone involved.
Making Technology Work for You
Technology can be a hindrance in getting your child to go out and be active, but if you use technology right, it can also be your greatest asset in getting your child up and moving.
Sometimes, it’s hard to motivate your child (and heck, sometimes even yourself!) to go outside and get moving when the promise of playing video games or something similar is available to you. However, did you know that there are video games that you can play that require you to get up and active?
Games like Ring Fit, Just Dance, and Beat Saber are games that require you to get up and move to play. It might not seem like much, but these games can give you a workout if you spend enough time playing them. There’s nothing that quite beats going outside and running around, but on a rainy day or when you just want to change it up, there’s nothing better than making technology help you stay active!
Pulse Boxing and Fitness
Here at Pulse Boxing and Fitness, we take the importance of kids' fitness seriously. Our fitness classes for kids cater to all age groups from Pre-K-aged children to the sixth grade, and we’re currently working on ways to get teens involved through our teen warrior classes.
From after-school enrichment classes to Ninja Warriors training classes, we want to get your children up, active and involved. We hope to see you at our training classes soon!