Best ideas for Kids fitness

Author: Daniel White

Kid’s fitness programs are expanding at a rapid rate on websites and in gymnasiums. Catch words like ‘HIIT training’ and ‘Integrated machines" are enticing children into kid’s fitness programs. The problem arises when kid’s fitness programs become monotonous or repetitive without any variety or stimulation. Kid’s fitness is not a stagnant process. Kid’s fitness is ever changing and evolving and requires innovative ideas and creativity from trainers and coaches to keep kids intrigued and engaged. Kid’s fitness should include the fundamental process of any fitness program with a warm-up, stretching, program, cool down and further stretching. The key is how you develop and integrate these fundamentals into your kid’s fitness program. Kid’s fitness should center on group activities in a game style setting where challenges are set and achieved. Kids respond best when they are challenged in a fun and interactive environment. A second key to longevity with kid’s fitness programs is the environments created for the kids. Kids respond best when they are visually stimulated; so use lots of color. Examples could include colorful equipment, multi-coloured balls, and mats as well as stimulating outdoor environments. Training kids in the park provide a different stimulus to training kids at the beach. Kid’s fitness can use these stimulating environments to also provide challenges and resistance needed to get the best out of the kid’s fitness programs. For example, a kid’s fitness program at the beach can leverage of the water and sand dunes with the introduction of games or relays that use the contours of the sand or the resistance of the water. A third key kids fitness requirement is the enthusiasm displayed by the trainer/ coach. An enthusiastic trainer/coach provides the drive for the kids and makes their kids fitness program exciting and stimulating. There is nothing worse than a flat trainer/coach. Kids want to be inspired and know that they can achieve goals that are realistic and timely. A kid’s fitness program needs to incorporate goals that can be achieved collectively amongst the whole group but also include some individual goals for each child. If you set goals that are too hard or goals that take too long to achieve, you will lose interest in your kid’s fitness program very quickly. The best thing you can do is ask your kids. Have conversations with them about their fitness levels, what they can do and what they can’t do, what they enjoy doing. By doing this, you are building a profile of your children which will allow you to provide a better more stimulating kids fitness program.