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Fitness Trends And The Benefits Of Keeping Our Children Active

Gone are the days where exercise classes for kids were limited to dance classes, gymnastics, and recreational activities, such as riding bicycles and playing ball games. Nowadays, new classes, specifically geared towards children, are becoming ever popular as a means to combat the escalation in childhood obesity statistics. These classes are basically kid-friendly forms of the classes we as adults love, such as Crossfit, Zumba and Yoga. This is because many gyms and other exercise studios have seen the need that there is to get our children active and thus, have incorporated classes that are designed to get our kids fit and healthy again.

The Benefits Of Exercise

We are constantly bombarded with the fact that we need fit and healthy bodies to prevent harmful diseases but while that is a major reason for staying fit, there are other advantages too. One of these extra benefits is that exercise improves academic performance. In one particular study done by the universities of Strathclyde and Dundee, they found that for every extra 17 minutes of exercise in boys and 12 minutes in girls, there was an increase in academic performance for English, Math and Science. The authors also found evidence suggesting the following:

Children who carried out regular exercise, not only did better academically at 11 but also at 13 and in their exams at 16.

So the more regularly children exercise the better they are able to perform academically as well. That does not mean that a sporty child will automatically be brainy but studies have shown that doing exercise has a positive effect on children’s brain functioning and cognitive (thinking) performance. Exercise also plays a role when it comes to your mood. You can go to gym feeling grumpy and stressed but when you come out you feel far better than when you went in. The reason for this good feeling is that during exercise “feel good” hormones (endorphins) are increased while stress hormones (cortisol) are decreased. Other hormones that play a role in making you feel good are serotonin, adrenalin and dopamine, which work together in generating that “feel good” feeling. There is no need to take a drug to calm you and help you obtain a “high”. All you need to do is hit the gym, exercise at a medium intensity for at least 30 minutes, and you can generate a natural high that lasts.

Some Other Benefits

When a child exercises, all the stresses and strains of the day fade away. This relaxed state enables a child to sleep better as well. Your child will not only be tired from the exercise but thanks to the decrease in cortisol, your child will feel relaxed enough to fall asleep and stay asleep. Another benefit of exercise is improvement in school attendance. The reason for this, according to the American College of Sports Medicine is that,

People who exercise report fewer colds than their inactive peers.

Surveys as well as studies have been done to prove this fact. It is believed that the reason for this is that during moderate exercise there are positive changes that occur in our immune system. While the immune system does return to pre-exercise levels quickly after exercise, each session is seen as a boost for the immune system that reduces the long term risk of infection.

Fun Exercise Classes For Kids 

To combat the increasing obesity statistics there is now a move towards creating healthy habits in children from an earlier age than was done years ago. For obese children who are oftentimes not able to participate in traditional exercise activities, strength training is becoming a viable and more popular option, as is training with a personal trainer. Strength training also helps promote a child’s sense of achievement as well as boosts their confidence.

Over the years, gym instructors have steered clear of strength training exercises for kids, stating that it was unsafe and could stunt a child’s growth. This, however, has now been classified as a myth. Dr. Wayne Wescott, PhD, CSCS, fitness research director at the South Shore YMCA and instructor of exercise science at Quincy College together with Dr. Avery Faigenbaum, EdD, CSCS, professor in the department of health and exercise science at the College of New Jersey and the leading researcher and practitioner in pediatric exercise science, had this to say about strength training for children,

Strength training at sub-maximal loads (i.e., not exercising to failure or max capacity), can offer benefits and alternatives to other forms of exercise kids typically participate in.

Children, as young as 7 years old, can participate in strength training exercises say the experts, so long as each exercise is performed with the correct technique and under guidance of qualified instructors. Playing games, such as Tug-of-war, climbing trees or climbing ropes, are all beneficial forms of strength exercise that builds muscle and strength. Allowing children to play freely on climbing frames also helps them to build their strength. Exercise that mimics the way children move and play are far more beneficial and enjoyable. Exercise that has short bursts of high-effort movement with longer rest and recovery are preferred by most children. Exercise classes such as CrossFit, Yoga, Zumba, kick boxing, combination classes, as well as, teen weight-training classes, circuit training and strength and agility training, are becoming more and more popular.

Start Them Young

It is never too early to develop healthy habits in children. Start them young and they will learn habits that will take them into adulthood, confident, armed and ready to take on the world. There is no reason why we cannot change the prevalence of obesity in our world with the knowledge and expert scientific research that have gone into developing healthy habits. All it takes is that first step. Exercise and healthy living can only benefit our children and it should be the number one desire in the hearts of all parents to give their children the best. It costs nothing and only takes a bit of time to form the lasting habit of exercise.

 

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The Build Of A Ballet Dancer Could Be Yours

Beauty and grace are synonymous with a ballet dancer and they all have bodies to die for and now you don’t have to be a ballet dancer to look like one. Ballet dancers around the world usually have lean and lithe legs and bodies with strength and posture that some only dream about. While ballet is not for everyone, incorporating some of the dance moves into your fitness routine could have tremendous advantages. You also have to be realistic about your goals when participating in these classes – someone who is obese is not going to look like a ballet dancer without hard work and a really good diet as well.

Bring Out The Bar

After the movie “The Black Swan” was released many people flocked to a new form of exercise that combined ballet techniques, fat burning interval training, physical therapy, isometric muscle shaping as well as the elongating principles that dancers use for conditioning. The result was that a new kind of exercise form called The Bar Method was borne. A combination of moves such as these is bound to have you looking and feeling slimmer, and according to Burr Leonard, founder of The Bar Method,

This format produces both high caloric burn and firmer muscle mass. Most students who do The Bar Method regularly become slimmer and lighter, sometimes within months.

The added advantage of this method of exercise is that it is non-impact so even the older generation can participate. This one-hour class might be tough at first but judging by the feedback that many are giving, it is a total body workout that leaves participants toned and feeling like they have had a workout. There are even classes for moms-to-be which gives pregnant moms a further advantage in regaining their former figures quicker after birth.

Ballet Explained

The reason why ballet dancers look the way they do is because ballet aims at targeting smaller muscles that are not used as regularly as the larger muscle groups. When they stand, they are constantly pulling up out of their hips through their stomachs giving the appearance of elongation of the torso. Shoulders and back muscles come into play as you open up your shoulders and incorporate your back into keeping your shoulders open. Natalie Portman prepared for a year before launching into her role as the professional ballet dancer in “The Black Swan”. She trained under the guidance of Mary Helen Bowers, former dancer with the New York City Ballet and founder of the The Ballet Beautiful fitness method. She says that,

The inner thighs are engaging and you’re squeezing your butt to make sure you’re perfectly lifted. Everything is basically firing as one-and first position is just a resting point!

Add exercises that demand burst of energy and deep stretches and you are looking at a toned and fit body that will have you looking and feeling like a million dollars.

As you participate in this form of exercise you will soon realize that your body’s strength and endurance are being challenged. Some people have likened it to a Pilates class or a Yoga class but there are differences whereby your own body weight is used for the sculpting process of all the major muscle groups. Fitness comes exclusively from aligning, stretching and strengthening these muscle groups resulting in body changes that you will love as well as stamina, power and a little bit of grace. Even if you don’t look a million dollars just yet, you are bound to feel far better about yourself which is, in itself, a great positive that you can glean from this type of fitness.

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Benefits Of Gymnastics For Your Child

Encouraging a child to exercise and eat correctly at a young age will set your child up to form healthy habits that will last him or her a lifetime. Gymnastics is a sport that is started at an early age and has many health and fitness benefits that will have your child feeling good, confident, looking good. In addition to that, he will have a strong body. The gymnast also uses many fitness components to execute various moves on the floor and apparatus as he or she develops the technique, skill, precision and grace. This is a sport that demands dedication and a large amount of self discipline while still keeping the fun aspect.

Fitness Components Of Gymnastics

Participating in a sport that includes most of the fitness components adds benefits to your overall health and gymnastics has most of these components. According to some experts,

Gymnastics training can be demanding on competitive athletes, but it does build a healthy body.

 

 

When looking at the fitness components of gymnastics, muscular strength tops the list. Without muscular strength the gymnast will not be able to execute almost all the moves used in gymnastics. Shoulders, arms and legs need to have incredible strength to be able to push, jump and balance through tumbling, acrobatics, power and dance routines that make up a gymnastic workout. Strong core muscles make it possible to maintain balance and fluidity of moves during these routines.

Next comes muscular endurance and this applies strongly for the men of this sport. Competition routines have numerous repetitive moves requiring prolonged engagement of the muscles. Muscles need to be able to cope with this and need to be able to maintain this sustained work level throughout long competitions. Men in particular use moves that require straight arm strength, bent arm strength as well as tremendous shoulder strength which enables them to move fluidly during the execution of strength moves in any given routine.

Because so many muscles come into play for a gymnast, cardiovascular endurance is key. If the right amount of oxygen is not taken in and delivered to the muscles as needed, training efforts will be for naught. Fitness is of prime necessity as many exercises require sudden bursts of energy for prolonged periods of time. The most obvious of the fitness components needed by the gymnast is flexibility,

Throughout your gymnastic training your flexibility will be one of the main aspects that is worked on. To be a good gymnast it is very important that you have good flexibility and strength to support you throughout your moves.

The more you practice, the more flexible you will become.

Other Benefits Of Gymnastics

Some gymnastic routines are quite intricate and require the learning of a large range of movements. These movements will challenge you mentally, physically and emotionally the more you learn and the further you go with the sport. Children learn to listen to their instructors in this sport as well. If they do not listen to the correct way the movements need to be executed, they could end up doing it wrong and injuring themselves.

Gymnastics, although competitive, fosters incredible social interaction among the participants. Feeling like you belong is a great booster for any child and lasting friendships are built while team building and encouragement of each other are in progress. Skills that are learned while participating in gymnastics automatically filter out to other areas of your child’s life. Skills such as self discipline, listening and concentration can be used when participating in school activities and other sports as well. Life skills, fitness and overall health, what more could you want?