A Fitness Routine For Kids

We know that kids play a lot which we think is more than enough for them but kids these days are actually not so active when compared to our generations and we were not so active when compared to our elders’ generations, were we? These days kids are spending more time in schools and after returning home they are preferring video games over outdoor games. In such case it is important to concentrate on their physical activities.

To prevent any kind of injuries it is important for a child to do some warm up before workouts. Ask them to walk, do jumping jacks, knee lifts, bendings, etc. Stretching before exercising is essential for both adults and kids.

Make sure they do it right; ask them to do it slow but perfectly rather than being fast in a wrong way. Once they get perfection they can increase the speed. Repetitions also matter a lot; decide the number yourself based on your child’s ability. Slowly increase the number when they get used to it.

Here are few exercise recommendations for your kid. Other than these there are many more which your kids can try but these are the easy and commonly used ones to try as a beginner. Once your child masters them, they can try new ones too.

A Fitness Routine For Kids

  1. Jumping Jacks

Affected areas: legs and arm muscles

This is one of the common exercises everyone knows. Children are usually taught doing this at schools; so, probably your child already knows how to do this. You just need to keep your legs close and stand keeping your hands downwards. Jump and move both the legs outwards while lifting your hands above head sideways; then again jump back to normal position. This can be done as warm up and also make it a part of full body exercise.

  1. Slalom Jump

Affected Areas: Leg muscles

You need to stand straight first by keeping both the legs together as normal then squat down a bit bending little forward, keep your left hand in front and your right hand backwards. Now you need to jump to your right and while doing this your hand positions change. Your left hand should go backwards and your right hand should move forward. Then jump towards left and your hand positions should go back to the first position. Repeat this for few times till your child can do. Once he/she gets used to it you can make them carry little weight in their hands while doing this.

  1. Ski Jump

Affected Areas: Legs and arms

Keep your left leg and left arm in front and place your right arm and right leg backwards. Slightly bend at knees and jump. When you jump change your position of legs and arms to the opposite before you land. This mean when you land your right arm and right leg should be in front of you while your left arm and left leg should be backwards. Jump again and come back to the previous position which mean your left leg and arm are in the front and right leg and arm are in the backwards; repeat this for few times.

  1. Squat Thrust With Push Up

Affected Areas: Legs and arms, chest and back

Stand straight with about 10 to 12 inches of distance between your feet. Now bend at knees like a squat till you touch the floor with your hands. Place your hands flat on the floor and jump backwards straight and come into a pushup position. Keep your back and legs straight and bend at elbows till your chest touches the floor. Now straighten your elbows back and then jump inwards so that you can come back to the squat position. Now stand straight and go back to normal position; do this for dew times.

  1. Alternate Toe Touch

Affected Areas: Legs, arms, back and shoulders

This is an easy one to do. You need to stand straight with feet two feets apart and keep your hands straight and perpendicular to your body; your hands should be right beside you but not in front of you. Now bend and touch your left foot toes with your right hand while moving your left hand above your head. Come back to the previous position and then bend again to touch your right foot toes with your left hand while moving your right hand upwards above your head. Again come back to normal position; repeat this for few times.

  1. Stair Climber

Affected Areas: Legs, feet and ankles

Climb the stairs slowly with just the ball of your feet touching the stairs and no other part of your feet should touch them. Climb 10 to 15 steps and then come back the same way on the ball of your feet. Again climb the steps but this climb every alternate step. Come down again but do not use alternate steps but every single step. Climb again by keeping your entire feet on the step but hanging your heel at the edge; this time climb every step of the staircase; come down the same way. Repeat this for few times.

  1. Trunk Rotations

Affected Areas: Sides, back and hips

Keep your hands on your hips and stand straight. Now rotate your body in each direction as much as possible and do it slowly; never do it fast and give jerks. Repeat this for few times.

  1. Shuttle Runs With Ball

Affected Areas: Entire body

From the point you are standing you need to run about 10 meters shuttle and perform any ball skill such as soccer, ball shot, etc. Do this for some time or few minutes.

These are easy exercises kids can do and they involve whole body movements. Similarly few other exercises which your child can do are side lunges, lunges, butt kicks, arm circles, chin ups, crunches, bench dips, leg raises, pull ups, push ups, pistol squats, lying leg raises, dips, etc. Plan different types of exercises for a week and try different types of workouts for your kids. You can make a set of few workouts for monday and a different set of workouts for tuesday; that will keep your child interested in exercises.