Is your child a reluctant exerciser? The best way to work with a reluctant exerciser in your family is to set the right example for them. My neighbor across the street is great in this respect. Her thirteen year old doesn’t care for physical activity, but they walk together every evening or they go out rollerblading together. The plan is to keep her exercising and moving – whether she is doing it with her mom or with her friends.
For those of you not worried about childhood obesity with your kids, there’s another great reason to encourage exercising in your reluctant exerciser – kids who engage in regular physical activity are less stressed and it also helps kids to sleep better at night. Kids who engage in physical play are releasing not only their physical tensions, but also their emotional ones.
Pediatricians and other fitness experts recommend at least 30 minutes a day of moderate intensity physical activity for children every day. While schools are ramping up and employing new rules in moderating their nutrition, many of these same schools have scaled back on their physical education programs and they are not getting directed physical activity at school. For kids who prefer to sit out at recess and read or talk – you can’t guarantee that they are going to be running around and playing.
Some Kids Are Naturally Active
This is the truth. Some kids are just naturally active and enjoying being on the go all the time. Other kids prefer to sit around and use their imagination. Neither is better or worse, it just means you have to explore different options with both. For the naturally active child, team sports are a great option. They will enjoy the challenge.
For the child who wants to use their imagination or prefers reading and storytelling, classes like dance and gymnastics can help them explore their own fantasies and imaginary characters. Demonstrating your own higher levels of physical activity can also keep them encouraged to go forward whether they are out riding a bike with you, walking or playing.
Kids, even older kids, still get a kick out of doing things with their parents. My daughter loves to exercise when I am. She even has her own balance ball and at the age of five, she’s getting pretty good at some yoga stances. Because she sees me being active, she wants to be active too. She enjoys riding her bike, taking her gymnastics classes and going to dance.
Formal Lessons Or Not
Whether you can afford or want to sign your child up for formal lessons, you can help them get more active. If you or your spouse jogs, have your child ride along. Walk them to and from school each day if that is available. Go for a walk after dinner if you can. Enjoy the time together and make the time quality time for both of you.
While vigorous exercise might be best – it’s equally important to recognize that excessively vigorous exercise isn’t going to be as appealing to young kids as moderate levels of it. For example, just going to romp in the swimming pool or at the park is more than an enough to be vigorous and active. Check it out, you may surprise both you and your child by not only getting into shape together, but forging stronger personal bonds with each other. That’s certainly nothing to sneeze at.
How do you get your reluctant exerciser moving?