Athletic Exercises for Kids

Guidelines

• Athletic exercises should be at least moderately challenging or require vigorous effort. An elevated heart rate and heavy breathing are both indicators a kid is doing athletic exercises. A quick scale provides a way for your kid to check in and determine his intensity. On a scale of 0 to 10, 0 represents sitting and 10 represents his greatest effort possible. A 5 or 6 scoring indicates moderate-intensity and 7 or 8 indicates vigorous-intensity. For example, your child might report a 5 after jogging for 10 minutes and an 8 after performing a series of sprints.

Cardio Exercises

• The 60-minute daily requirement should consist mostly of cardio exercise, according to the CDC. Three days a week should focus on vigorous, or athletic exercise. Examples of vigorous-intensity exercises appropriate for kids include running, martial arts, playing a game of tag, cycling and running. Group sports, such as basketball, soccer, swimming or gymnastics provide a social outlet for exercise while teaching kids about team work, practice, commitment and healthy competition. Encouraging your kid to do an exercise that he enjoys increases his chances of sticking with it.

Strength Exercises

• Strength-training exercises don't require that kids lift weights. In fact, kids should only use weights under proper supervision. Activities including gymnastics, tug-of- war and swinging on the monkey bars on a playground build strength and endurance. Creating a challenging circuit consisting of different exercise stations is a way to help your kid do his strength training exercises. Appropriate exercises include modified pushups, tree or rope climbing, situps and body-weight squats.

Bone Strengthening Exercises

• Childhood is an important time for building strong and healthy bones. Doing weight-bearing exercises three times a week will help build bone density and help prevent age-related bone loss that occurs as people age. The good news is that many bone-strengthening exercises also fulfill the requirements for cardio. Running, skipping, hopping, basketball and gymnastics build bone strength while providing a cardio workout.