It’s summertime, and you may be ready to spend the day at the gym. If this is the case, your eagerness should be paired with a great game plan! Parents and kids, ease into a gym routine this summer that will make a positive splash in your physical fitness for the long run.
Finding the best-fit regimen, like how often and how long you should visit the gym, is the first step to developing your action plan. Going forward, we’ll discuss the workouts and equipment that will benefit your muscles and keep you fit during both summer break and school.
How Often Should You Go to the Gym?
Since you are just getting started, going to the gym three times a week is a solid goal. This makes for a nice start because the World Health Organization guidelines for children and adolescent physical fitness suggest doing rigorous physical activity at least three times weekly. Parents, a nice way to help implement this would be to go every other day, such as a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule.
How Long Should a Workout Be?
Parents and kiddos start by aiming for a 60-minute workout. Young people between 6 and 17 are encouraged to do at least one hour of moderate-to-vigorous activity daily. There’s no better place to attempt this than at the gym! You can start light by focusing more on moderate workouts before increasing the intensity as you get the hang of your gym workouts.
Tips For Picking Which Exercises to Do
Now that we’ve addressed how often and how long you should go to the gym, we have to discuss what to do while you’re there! At this young age, your physical activity should consist of aerobic, muscle-strengthening, and bone-strengthening workouts. Most of the hour should be spent on aerobic workouts, like using an exercise bike, for instance, but all three types are important and should be engaged three times a week.
General muscle groups to target include your upper body, lower body, and core. You engage in muscle-strengthening workouts when you lift weights, like barbells, to work your shoulders and chest, for example. You can try medicine ball workouts to challenge your abdominal muscles. Hold a dumbbell and do some squats and lunges to give attention to your lower body muscles, like the glutes and hamstrings.
Warming Up and Cooling Down
When you’re ready to start your workout for the day, it is recommended that you start with some dynamic warm-up exercises. These warm-ups, like jogging and jumping rope, help to enhance flexibility and range of motion. Parents, you should note that another benefit of dynamic warm-ups is core stability, which supports balance and coordination, two necessary components of safe and fluid movements.
Equally important are your cool-down exercises. Adequate cool-down periods allow the body to adjust from rigorous to normal activity levels. Walking and stretching after the workout can be effective. This will make the post-workout recovery easier and reduce any soreness.