Does your kid want to workout looking at you doing it too? Very importantly, regardless of age, the children need some form of physical activity.
Sometimes we feel the TV and other distractions like tabs, video games, etc. have taken away the childhood from our kid’s life. Remember those days when we used to go out of the home the moment we had some free time to play with friends or ride bikes, go to the park or swim in summers? Even though the kids have so many opportunities today, they still prefer looking at a screen and spend their lazy time!
Encourage them to exercise together and let them have their own pace though. This is not going to get the kids to grow all of a sudden or look fit, but it is to have fun with exercise and let them get introduced to the world of fitness. Teach the kids to do it right by monitoring their moves. We have listed below some best exercises for kids to do at home along with you.
1. Planking:
Put your elbow on the floor, resting your body with the help of the tip of the toes. Keep your back and abs straight and tight in a line. Hold the position as long as you can. For the kids, 30-40 seconds should be an excellent time to hold.
2. Squats:
Put your feet shoulder distance apart and arms out. The knee needs to bend as if you are sitting in an invisible chair and back to standing position. Do not extend your knees past your toes.
3. Crunches:
Sit-ups are same as push-ups but not all the way from the floor to the knee but just curl your chest towards the knee. Also called as curl-ups in kids school.
4. Push-ups:
Keep the abs tight and back straight. With the help of your palm and toes pull your body up and down with a straight or bent knee.
5. Lunges:
Take a step and touch your back knee to the floor. Make sure to not extend the knee past the toes.
6. Side Leg Raises:
Stand straight and raise one leg to the side and back. Repeat with the other leg.
7. Burpees:
The tough and challenging ones for kids. A whole sequence of the exercise gets the heart racing. Do squats then put your hands on the ground and then kick your legs straight back on your toes. Then you must do a push-up and bring the leg back underneath by jumping on the floor. This set together is one burpee.
8. Mountain Climber:
The exercise starts with a push-up position and then alternately bringing the foot forward towards the armpit and then extended back out with one leg at a time.
9. Butterfly kicks:
Lie on your back as the first position. Having your abs tight, raise the feet just off the floor and flutter-kick them. This one makes the kids have real fun and burst with a giggle, which then makes it hard for them to do the exercise. But it’s fun always to do it with kids.
10. V-ups:
This one is like the sit-up we spoke about but in the shape of a “V”. Lie on your back and stretch your arms to extend it above your head on the floor. Your body is lying straight and then lift your legs raising your torso and hands until you make a V shape with your body, base as your bottom. Reach as further possible towards your feet, then back down again to the starting straight position.
Monitor and supervise your kid such that they do not hurt themselves. Also, it is advisable to start with some good amount of stretching and to warm up and also to cool down at the end. The kids are at a growing age, and they must practice the exercise with correct postures as much as possible to help them grow better.
