Question: My son is 10 and a little over weight. He wants to lift weights, but I told him no. What exercises he can do?
Exercise is vital to a healthy body and weight loss for children and adults. The basic principals are the same. To lose weight, your child must perform aerobic activity, strength exercises, and improve flexibility. The upside is that many of the activities your child already routinely enjoys are considered aerobic activity.
Aerobic activities are essential to weight loss. Your heat beats faster and your body burns calories and fat for energy. Aerobic exercises include bicycling, swimming, basketball, soccer, tennis, and jogging. The key is to raise the heart rate and keep it elevated for at least 30 minutes. Engage your child in a backyard game of soccer. Or challenge him to bike race. The activities are fun and allow you to spend time with him. And at the same time he will be exercising.
Strength training is important too. Since he is interested in using weights, he may enjoy some of the exercises many body builders perform frequently. Push-ups, pull-ups, and stomach crunches use the weight of the body for resistance. These strength exercises will also help lose weight.
Flexibility exercises, or stretching, improve the muscles and joints ability to move and flex. Improving flexibility facilitates strength training improvement. Flexibility also improves your child’s ability to perform every day activities. Improvements in daily movements can increase self esteem and encourage additional exercise. As activities become easier to perform, your child will enjoy them more.