Fitzy Bitzy: Fitness Blog - Weight Loss Blog - Trainer Blog

For the love of the game

I recently had the pleasure of working with about 100 kids, from grades 1-6, at a summer camp.  My job was to find a way to get them to do a morning "wakeup" workout; talk about a challenge.  As many of you know, it's not the easiest task to try and get kids to function at 7:30 in the morning during their summer vacation, let alone get them to exercise.  Needless to say, I was kind of nervous. 

"What if they just stand there and look at me?  What if this totally bombs?" were some of the thoughts that were running through my head.  As 7:15 rolled around, a handful of kids started to trickle into the gymnasium.  Slowly, more and more kids started to wakeup and drag themselves into the gymnasium until about 7:40 when I was surrounded by tired kids looking at me like, "Exercise!  I just want to go back to bed mister."

What was I to do? 

The night before, when I was planning this whole shindig out, I decided that the best approach to take to the challenge of getting sleepy kids to exercise was to come up with a series of games.  I came up with games where the kids would partner up, and then one person would start moving around, and the other person would have to keep up and mirror the movements his/her partner was doing. 

I also had the partners form a square around them and play tag with each other.  The idea was that if you stepped out of the square, that was a point.  If you got tagged, that was another point.  When one person got to 5 points, the game was over, and they started again.

My final idea was to design a bunch of relay races.  You can throw anything into a relay race, it doesn't matter how hard it is.  I had relay races with the kids doing pushups, bear crawls, frog hops, 1-legged hops, all kinds of different exercises!

So with my game plan is place, I stood there looking at all these semi comatose kids with exercising at 7:30 [7:40] in the morning being the last thing on their mind. 

We started off with the mirror game.  Success!  The kids woke up!  It actually turned out to be hilarious.  There were kids flailing themselves around with their partner struggling to keep up with their crazy movements. 

We moved onto the partner game of tag.  Another success!  Not only were the kids awake, but now they were laughing and smiling, and on top of that, they were starting to breath heavier!

The moment of truth rolled around; it was time to test out my relay games.  I had the kids split up into different teams according to what cabin group they were in.  With the anticipation building, the kids were actually fired up to start the relay race.  I even had kids get down into a sprinter's stance!  

"Go!" I yelled, and the kids took off.  A funny thing happened.  After the first relay race was over, even though they had to do pushups and squats, they were yelling to do it again.  These 100+ kids were actually completely into the exercises I had secretly disguised as games!

When it was all said and done, the kids ran off to breakfast with smiles on their bright red, sweaty faces, and it just reiterated to me that you don't have to make exercise a flavorless task filled with doing a set of 12 repetitions, followed by a 30-second rest break, followed again by a set of 12 repetitions.  Describing it like that, it's no wonder that most people don't like exercise. 

Taking this example of the kids, I have even used this type of program design with my adult clients, and guess what?  I still have had the same results!  Everybody loves games.  I even had one client ask me if we could do more game-like workouts.

My point is, if you're struggling with keeping yourself motivated to work out, grab a friend and come up with some games the two or three or four or more of you can compete against each other with.  Everybody loves a little competition, even kids as you can see, so by throwing a little competition into the workout mix, you'll make life more interesting and healthier.  If you're having trouble getting your kids to be active, take a lesson from the campers and come up with some workout games for your rug rats to enjoy.  The good thing is, you don't even need a gym to be creative.  All you need is your own body weight and the great outdoors. 

Creativity is a wonderful thing.  The more creative you can be with exercise, the less boring it'll be, and the more likely you'll enjoy doing it!

Featured on Reuters!

Setting your kids up for a fit lifestyle

Lately, I've been having people come up to me asking about different ways to help kids stay fit and avoid unhealthy weight gain.  I feel one of the most important areas that today's youth lacks is what a lot of people say.  Their level of activity isn't where it should be.  I also feel that the eating habits of our youth has gotten worse.  Kids follow in the footsteps of their parents, and as parents start to eat bigger portion sizes and less nutritional food, so do their kids.  With the family lifestyle continuing to get progressively busier and busier as time goes on, no longer do families sit down to well-balanced meals at the dinner table.  Many pick up some fast food on the way to school events or microwave pre-packaged meals. 

Nutrition is definitely a huge part to why our youth is becoming increasingly unhealthier, but just as big of an issue is the lack of physical activity.  No longer do you consistently see kids riding their bikes outside or playing basketball in the driveway.  Instead, they're riding virtual dirt bikes or being a virtual Kobe Bryant on the living room TV. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day for kids, and with the cutting back on recess time and PE class, many kids don't get that much in one week.  I also feel that the safety of our kids is another contributing factor to the activity of kids.  Back when I was a kid, it was no problem to ride my bike down our country road to play at the neighbors', but with the increasing number of child abductions in the news, it's no wonder we don't see kids playing out in the neighborhoods as much.

Times have definitely changed, but that doesn't mean that our youth's health has to change with it.  Kids are resourceful, and if limits are imposed on video game use, they're creative enough to come up with other fun things to do.  Without video games to entertain them, the only other option is for them to entertain themselves by being active with their friends.  If you're worried about your kids playing around the neighborhood, why not give them different toys to play with in the back yard with friends?  Instead of buying them the football video game, buy them a football.  Instead of buying them an action video game, encourage them to set out on an exploration in the back yard.  Todays kids may not be as engaged with these type of activities, but if these are their only options, they'll be just like we were in our youth.  We didn't have all the nifty technology that they have today, and guess what?  We still had just as much fun.  Kids are creative; encourage them to use their creativity with physical activity instead of inactivity.  Get them outside playing tag or "cops and robbers" on their bikes.  The more we can make a shift back to what it was like during our youth, the better off we'll set our kids up for healthier lifestyles later on in life.

So here's my suggestions:

1. Decrease the amount of processed foods like potato chips, french fries, and sweets.
2. Decrease pop/soft drink and fruit juice intake (drinks that are loaded with junk like sugar and high-fructose corn syrup).
3. Increase water intake.  (If your kids love fruit juice, try sweetening some water with something like Crystal Light.)
4. Decrease video game use and increase physical activity (at least 60 minutes per day).
5. Decrease the number of trips to fast food restaurants and increase cooked/baked dinners around the kitchen table.
6. Read about having your kids start an exercise program.

Remember, the number of fat cells your body has is determined during your adolescent years, so teaching your kids healthy lifestyle choices during their early years is absolutely vital for setting them up for a healthy life in the future.

Featured on FOX News!

Featured on Reuters!

Increasing the sports performance of your kids

Have you ever been to a high school basketball game and seen a player who just stood out above the rest.  His quickness, his speed, his agility, his endurance, everything just seemed to be so much better than everyone else’s out on the floor.  Well, unless your young athlete has inherited some unbelievable genes, chances are some hard work will be required in order to stand out above the rest.

It’s sad to see that the obesity rates among children continue to climb, and while lack of activity and poor nutrition are to blame, there’s still hope in teaching kids the proper way to live a healthy lifestyle.  If done early enough, teaching kids the importance of making healthy decisions can have a lasting effect throughout their entire lives.

Obviously, getting kids active is a start when trying to help them achieve a healthy lifestyle.  One of the best ways to do this is to encourage them to join a youth sports team.  The key word here is encourage.  Kids are more likely to enjoy physical activity if they’re given options instead of requirements; the same can be said with nutrition.  It’s important that kids be taught how to make healthy eating choices, but instead of forcing kids to eat healthy, allowing them to have healthy options to choose from will lead to a healthier and happier little rascal.  Getting kids interested in physical activity and making healthy eating choices is a huge accomplishment, but it’s also the first step in developing better athletic performance in kids.

The next step to increase sports performance in kids is to develop better balance and coordination; without balance and coordination, the base for improvements in other areas isn’t going to be there.  Exercises such as standing on one foot, learning to ride a bike, summersaults, eating with the non-dominant hand, and coloring are great for developing one or both of these components.  Choosing no more than 4 balance exercises with 1-3 sets of 10-20 reps (6-10 on each leg) is a great start for improving balance.  These exercises should be held for 3-10 seconds for each repetition, and if your child starts to become “sloppy”, it’s time to stop.

The next step to achieve athletic efficiency in kids is to get them on a structured strength training program.  Over the years, there’s been such a big debate about whether or not strength training is detrimental to kids, and contrary to past beliefs, the main medical and fitness organizations are all for kids being on structured resistance training programs.

So when is the best age to start lifting weights?  When a child hits the age of 7 or 8, they’re neuromuscular system has started to reach a point that it’s ready to be trained.  This is also the age when kids have a long enough attention span to be able to follow directions and respond to the cues of a fitness professional.

To start your young athlete out on a strength training program, the best way to start would be to have her complete body-weight exercises and 1 set of 15-25 repetitions for exercises with external weight.  These exercises should be done under the guidance of a knowledgeable fitness professional, and proper form and technique should be stressed more than intensity.  Problems arise when a program is progressed too quickly with little attention on form and technique.  It’s always better to have your youngster do too little than too much, not just because of safety reasons, but also because it’ll keep your child more motivated to exercise.  Also, realize that strength training is new to them, so being patient with kids and addressing any concerns is an absolute must.  When done safely though, strength training for kids can be very beneficial.

Once a strength base is achieved, the next area to focus on would be to help your child improve her reaction time.  Different plyometric drills, such as frog hops and jumping rope, are great for increasing the efficiency between her nerves and muscles.  A good approach would be to start with 2 exercises of 1-3 sets of 3-8 repetitions, and work up from there.  If your child starts to get winded easily or becomes less explosive, it’s time to call it a day; continuing with the workout is counter-productive and can lead to injury.

Along with reactive or quickness training, training for speed is another component that needs to be enhanced.  There are two types of speed to work on with your child.  The first is forward speed, and the second is lateral speed.  The most basic forward speed drill is sprinting, and the most basic lateral speed drill is shuffling.  A good start to achieving better speed is to have your child complete 4-6 exercises of 1 set of 2 repetitions for 10 meters.

Speed is another area that needs to be handled with care because if a child becomes too tired and breaks form, the results of the exercises will be counterproductive; only complete an exercise if your child is still performing them quickly and correctly.

I just touched on this concept, but form is another area that needs to be addressed early.  I’m not just talking about lifting form, I’m talking about running, hitting, shooting, throwing, kicking, etc.  This is one area that if it’s not corrected early enough, it can be nearly impossible to ever correct.  Form is huge; proper form will help your child run faster, throw farther, hit harder, etc., and one way to achieve proper form is to maintain proper flexibility.  Since kids are very flexible to begin with, a lot of times, just maintaining that flexibility is all that’s required.  Proper warm-ups and cool-downs will help maintain/increase flexibility, as well as proper stretching programs.  By improving flexibility, not only will risk of injury decrease, but your child’s neuromuscular patterns will improve, leading to better performance.

Increasing sports performance in kids is easy to do, but it must be done with care.  The most important thing to remember is quality over quantity; focus more on form and technique than on the intensity of the exercise.  Let your child talk with you about his concerns and enjoyment with exercise.  Starting slow and following a proper progression is the best approach to keeping your child happy, active, and safe.  A program that consists of at least 2, but no more than 4 days per week of exercise, will help your child achieve the safest and best results.  Utilizing the knowledge and experience of a nationally-certified fitness professional, who knows how to work with kids, is the best approach to take when it comes to improving athletic performance in kids.  By being patient and encouraging with your young athlete, you’ll not only set him up for athletic success, but you’ll also set him up for a healthy life.