As a personal training Studio Owner at Vision Personal Training in Brookvale I see a lot of teenagers who come into the Studio with very poor motor skills and basic coordination, as well as the start of long-term health implications from inactivity. And that is something I wanted to make sure didn’t happen to my kids. As a dad of 3 kids, it's important for me to make sure that my kids stay fit and healthy, and one of the things that training from home has taught me is that kids absolutely love training and moving with their parents.
During lockdown I was taking live workout classes from home and before I knew it, they were alongside me performing push ups and squats. And my six-year-old daughter went as far as to film her own home workouts copying what I was doing. So, it is so important to make sure that our kids see us performing healthy habits and see that moving our bodies is normal, and to see us trying and doing something that is hard, being outside our own comfort zones, out of breath like they can be when they run around.
So, what are somethings we do that you can do to?
- We drew an agility ladder on the floor outside in chalk and and jumped in and out of it.
- We used tins of food and bottles of water as weights lifting them up and down.
- We had a rope we used for balance.
- We all used the outdoor monkey bars and gym equipment at so many parks around.
- I bought a scooter so we could all scooter around together (remember to wear a helmet very hard yo get them to if you aren’t).
- We made our movements mimic that of animals to make them fun, frog jumps, bunny hops, kangaroo skips, etc.
- I have also taken them into the gym with me as I don’t want it to be an intimidating environment for them when they are older.
- Make sure it is always fun, kids want to do stuff they find fun and that you find fun as well.
- Play games, tug of war, hide and seek, make movement part of play.
- Dress-up Relay: Pick a few items from your closet – pants, shirt, hat, shoes, etc. – and set up a relay race where kids (or adults!) have to run from one side of the room to the other, put on the dress-up clothes on top of their regular clothes, the run back to the starting line.
- Physical Activity Bingo: Create a Bingo game with simple physical activities such as push-ups, jumping jacks, squats, sit ups, yoga poses and play using pennies or other coins. When someone has “Bingo”, have everyone do a circuit workout with the activities highlighted!
So remember that old saying they are always watching! Stay fit active and healthy yourself and your kids will likely follow and even more so if you include them, although when they say do “more burpees” it isn’t always fun haha, the rate of obesity in children is on the rise and although can sometimes be a hard pill to swallow as parents we need to take some responsibility.
