Exercise for Older Kids and Teens
Teens Need More Exercise
The number of overweight kids, teens, and adults has reached epidemic proportions. In recent years, the medical community has been giving more and more attention to this issue. This is especially alarming for teens because overweight teens often grow up and become overweight adults. Some of the dangers of obesity in adults are: heart disease, gout, arthritis, and diabetes, so it is very important for us to help overweight teens learn healthy exercise and eating habits now.
The average teenager spends nearly 30 hours every week in front of the TV, and research has shown that their metabolism slows greatly while they are sitting, watching television. Also, many teens eat snacks that are high in fat and sugar while they are in front of the tube.
In the meantime, schools are limiting the number of Physical Education classes that they offer in order to cut costs. Currently, Illinois is the only state that makes daily PE classes mandatory, and even then there are ways to get around it.
So it’s up to us parents to help our kids develop healthy lifestyles, and here’s how we can begin!
Great Exercises for Teens
AccoRDIng to the American Heart Association teens should be getting at least 60 minutes of physical activity every single day. There are many different ways to do this: running, in-line skating, cycling, spinning, swimming, power walking, tennis, basketball, aerobic dancing, kick-boxing, Tae Bo, hockey, soccer, rowing, using an elliptical trainer, cross-country skiing, jumping rope, racquetball, handball, ice-skating, and trampoline exercises are all great activities for teens.
Exercise shouldn’t hurt, but some muscle soreness is likely, particularly when just starting out. Make sure that your teen knows to warm-up and stretch before they exercise. And remember that kids who are not conditioned will need to take it slow in the beginning because they will be more likely to hurt themselves if they push too hard before they are ready.
Reasons Teens Should Exercise
- Even if you don’t like to exercise; running and walking are very easy. All you need are your own two feet. It’s not expensive. The only thing you’ll need to buy are running/walking shoes.
- Aerobic exercise helps keep your heart healthy and strong. A healthy heart helps your body and your mind to work better, and when your mind is working well you can think more clearly, so you might be able to perform better in school.
- You can do it with friends if you want. It’s a great excuse to spend time talking with friends.
- It’s also a great excuse to spend some time alone with your thoughts.
- Exercising helps you get a healthy, strong body, which will help you do better in all of the other sports that you do.
- It will give you a lot more energy!
- Your body will feel terrific! It will help you have stronger muscles, a stronger heart, and even stronger lungs! You will notice that you are happier with what you see in the mirror, and you will probably even get noticed more by others.
- Your Mind will feel terrific! You’ll feel good about setting and reaching a goal, and studies have shown that exercise releases endorphins that make you feel happier.
