{"id":7773,"date":"2018-12-18T08:39:39","date_gmt":"2018-12-18T08:39:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/?p=7773"},"modified":"2022-08-17T10:34:26","modified_gmt":"2022-08-17T08:34:26","slug":"what-are-the-best-exercises-for-children-to-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/special-populations-blog\/what-are-the-best-exercises-for-children-to-do\/","title":{"rendered":"What are the Best Exercises for Children to do?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Children grow at the rate of knots! As we mentioned in a previous article<\/a>, in their first year of life they can grow as much as 25cm and this doesn\u2019t slow down. Their joints, muscles and ligaments are also being moulded and developed along with this phenomenal growth rate. To ensure that their bodies grow and develop well, you need to choose age-appropriate exercises for children to do which are suitable for their particular stage in life. In this article, we\u2019ve put together a list of the best exercises for children to do.<\/p>\n

Children and Exercise<\/h2>\n

Ask them how they want to exercise<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Children can be very fickle people. If they don\u2019t enjoy something they won\u2019t do it. This is the same with exercising. This means that when you want to put together an exercise programme that suits a child \u2013 and that they will enjoy \u2013 the golden rule is to listen to what type of physical activity that they would want to do and encourage them to do it.<\/p>\n

One of the best ways \u2013 which we recommended in our article entitled How can you Encourage Children to be Physically Active?<\/em><\/a> \u2013 to do this is to take part in the physical activity with them. This will show your kids that being active is cool \u2013 because you\u2019re doing it too. This will make them more likely to join in.<\/p>\n

The warm-up is key<\/strong><\/h2>\n

For all exercises for children – especially if you\u2019ve just started to introduce them to the notion of exercising – start slowly with a warm-up. This activity will need to be individualised and contain some type of movement for eight to 10 minutes. Suggestions include rubbing\/massaging the muscle, vestibular movements, weight-bearing movements for a muscle group or physically manipulating a particular gross motor movement which will activate primate reflexes.<\/p>\n

\"Trifocus<\/p>\n

Include stretching in your warm-up<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Stretching is vitally important as it will help your children avoid any injuries during their workout routine. (We chat more about stretching in this article<\/a>.) Examples of stretches that you can incorporate into exercises for children include:<\/p>\n