Exercises exist for even the youngest children. Infants benefit from many easy-to-use exercises and games that range from kicking, reaching, and crawling activities for infants to hopping, bending, dancing, and balancing activities for toddlers and preschoolers.
Can't take being shut in at home? You can join a gym or enroll yourself and your kids in dance, gymnastics, or exercise classes, indoor sports, or swimming at an indoor pool in the winter. However, if these options are limited where you live or if cost is an obstacle, try walking in the halls and stairways of your workplace or a shopping mall. Find out if a local mall is open for walkers before stores start business.
| To engage kids in these and other ordinary activities, make a game of it. For example, keep track of how far and how fast you go. |
Lack of time is one of the biggest reasons that people do not exercise. Instead of setting aside time for a full workout, do a little at a time. Thirty to 60 minutes of activity broken into 10 or 15 minute chunks throughout the day offers significant health benefits.4 Shorter periods of exercise also can help to keep kids interested. An entire daily set of indoor exercises can fit into an evening of TV-watching by stretching, jogging in place, doing jumping jacks, or lifting weights during commercial breaks.
If you or your kids have not been exercising regularly, if you are starting a new activity, or if you simply need to get into an exercise groove, begin slowly. By doing too much too soon, you risk injury or other health problems that can bring progress to a screeching halt and leave you worse off than you were before you started.
Make sure to warm up each time you and your kids exercise-examples include 5 to 10 minutes of exercise such as walking, slow jogging, knee lifts, arm circles, or upper body rotations. At the end, cool down the same way but add some stretching. Make workouts longer and more intense as the body adjusts to each level of activity. Listen to your body-do not try to push yourself or your children through pain, breathlessness, or exhaustion. 5
Recipe for Fitness
Cardiorespiratory endurance-ability of the body's heart, lungs, and blood system to supply fuel during sustained physical activity. Keep your heart rate elevated with brisk walking, jogging, swimming, cycling, rope-jumping, rowing, cross-country skiing, or continuous action games such as racquetball and handball.
Muscular strength-a muscle's ability to exert force. Lift weights, including exercises for all the major muscle groups.
Muscular endurance-a muscle's ability to keep performing without fatigue. Do calisthenics, pushups, situps, pullups, and weight training for all the major muscle groups.
Flexibility-the range of motion around a joint. Stretch slowly without a bouncing motion. 6, 7 |
To make exercise more fun and to keep your routine on track, involve others. You may not have room for a crowd, but putting a friend or two into the mix can add a vital dose of fun to keep a child interested in physical activity. The same goes for you. An exercise partner or a group of workout buddies can provide a boost to keep you going when you feel like throwing in the towel. Remember, it's not just about completing a set of exercises-getting together with others can become social events that all family members look forward to.
You're never too young, too old, or too out of shape to benefit from regular exercise.8 So get started. Sure, if you wait, winter will fade away, but your family's fitness will continue to lag and instead of wondering, "How can I?" you'll be asking, "Why didn't I?"
Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.
- Jim Ryun, former world record holder and three-time Olympian
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1. Exercising every day is necessary for good health.
True Correct.
False Incorrect.
Adults aged 18 and older need 30 minutes of physical activity on 5 or more days a week to be healthy; children and teens need 60 minutes of activity a day for their health.1
2. Exercise does not have to be strenuous to provide health benefits.
True Correct.
False Incorrect.
Moderate daily physical activity can reduce the risk of developing or dying from cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers.2
3. You should pick an exercise you like and stick with it.
True Incorrect.
False Correct.
Individual exercises provide benefits, but for all-around fitness an exercise program should include something from each of the four basic fitness components: cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and flexibility.3
4. Exercise will not do any good unless you keep it up for at least 30 minutes.
True Incorrect.
False Correct.
Smaller segments of activity throughout the day provide significant health benefits.4
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American Council on Exercise, 2006. Get Fit, referenced 1/10/07.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006. Physical Activity for Everyone, referenced 1/8/07.
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, 2005. Weight-control Information Network, referenced 1/10/07.
President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, 2003. Kids in Action: Fitness for Children Birth to Age Five, referenced 1/10/07.
SAMHSA's GetFit.samhsa.gov, 2005. Physical Heatlh: Health Effects, referenced 1/19/07.
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