Did you know that children under the age of 16 need to be active for at least 60 minutes of each day?
Being active for at least 60 minutes a day is linked to a wide range of health benefits for children including:
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Better general health
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Stronger bones and muscles
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Higher levels of self-esteem
So why not try to encourage your little ones to be as active as possible? In order for children to be happy and healthy, they need to reduce the amount of time that they are sitting for and partake in a variety of physical activities including moderate and vigorous activities! Moderate activities raise your heart rate and produce sweat, vigorous activities make you breathe hard and fast!
Different Kinds of Physical Activity
The NHS state that in order for children and young people to stay healthy, or to improve their health, they need to partake in 3 types of physical activity each week. These activities are:
- Aerobic exercise
- Exercises to strengthen muscles
- Exercises to strengthen bones
Unsure of what these types of exercises are? Don’t worry, we’ll go through them now!
Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise is better known as cardio. During aerobic exercises we breathe fast and heavier and our heart rate increases. There are many aerobic activities that all Activ8 gyms offer for children, these include: walking, running, swimming, rowing, cycling and elliptical machines!
For those of us who do not look forward to a cardio workout and look for something a little more exciting, activities such as tennis, squash, badminton and fitness classes are another great way to get that blood pumping.
Exercises to Strengthen Muscles
Exercises that help children to strengthen their muscles are activities that either require the child to lift their own body weight or work against resistance. This helps to build and maintain strong bones, regulate both blood pressure and blood sugar levels as well as keep a healthy weight.
There are many exercises that can be done in our Activ8 facilities that will help children to strengthen their muscles! This includes gymnastics classes, the very best Technogym equipment which includes resistance and weights machines and swimming.
Exercises to Strengthen Bones
The best exercises for building and maintaining strong bones are weight-bearing and muscle-strengthening activities, therefore a lot of the exercises that children can do to strengthen their bones will also strengthen their muscles!
Our Activ8 facilities offer a wide range of opportunities for children to strengthen their bones and have fun along the way. On top of the excellent gym facilities and many varieties of workouts that they are able to do there we also offer recreational activities including football, swimming, badminton, tennis and much more!
Effects of Exercise
There are so many health benefits physically of partaking in regular exercise which is great but there are also many psychological benefits of exercise that can really help a child’s development through those tricky years.
Research constantly shows that exercise significantly increases self-esteem. Exercise helps make us more confident. It releases endorphins and enhances moods.
You’ll know yourself, if you go to the gym, just how good you feel about yourself afterwards and how motivated you become. The same happens when children exercise!
Why not take advantage of our 6 month under 16’s membership and give your child access to the great fitness facilities on offer at Billingham Forum, Stockton Splash and Thornaby Pavilion. You can find more information here.
