Depending on how old your child is determines the amount of exercise they need.
Pre-school children ranging from 3 to 5 years of age and should be active throughout the day to promote growth and development. This can be achieved by encouraging your child to be active as they play and make it enjoyable. They are more likely to do more when they don't realise it's exercise!
School age children through to adolescence, ranging from 6 to 17 years of age should do 60 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous activity in ideal circumstances! Doing daily aerobic activities like running or skipping will strengthen their bones whereas activities such as climbing and push-ups will build their muscles. It is advised that your child does a range of these exercises over the course of a week so that they are building their bodies in a balanced way.
What exercise is good for my child?
Aerobic Activity Also called cardiovascular activity, these exercises will make your child breathe faster and their heart pound which will strengthen their heart and blood vessels. This activity is the most important of all of them and should make up the majority of your child's daily exercise.
Running, cycling, swimming, walking, jumping and skipping are just some of the ways that you can achieve your regular cardio and it can be something that you do as a family as well which will promote good health for all the family and help reduce high blood pressure and cholesterol in older adults.
Muscle strengthening Muscle strengthening activities include lifting weights, climbing stairs, cycling, walking on an incline or hill and dancing. More concentrated strength exercise for specific areas of the body include push-ups, sit-ups and squats.
These activities are good for your child to do at least 3 times a week or as part of their daily routine. Just lifting a couple of cans of beans and doing some simple arm exercises with them can be enough to build up their arm muscles over time and something that doesn't cost anything to do. Making these activities as easy as possible and part of your daily routine is a good habit to adopt.
A combination of cardio and muscle strengthening will also build bone strength in your child. Good bone strength provides strong structure, protects organs, helps anchor your muscles and stores calcium. It will also make it less likely for your child to get injuries during exercise and play.
At Little Steps Gym we promote good health and exercise through fun and playful activities and as your child grows in confidence skills and techniques will be taught that they will carry through into their adult life. It is so important that our children get the exercise they need alongside a balanced diet, if you need any advice on exercise and your child, please come and speak to one of the team.