More Movement
This is the time of year that people look to make changes in life. For adults each year there are standard resolutions. The usual items that people change are exercise more, lose weight, get organized and save money. Sometimes people want to stop a bad habit like smoking. Often these changes are difficult and are short lived. This year I challenge you to make a change for your child that should be easy. That challenge is to have them move more. This should be easy because for most kids movement is fun. You just have to find the right kind of movement and have the correct approach.
Let’s start by analyzing what your child does now. An easy way to increase movement is to take what they have been doing and do it more frequently. If they have a sport they like then play it more. If they have an outdoor activity they like then spend more time doing it. As a parent you may have to sacrifice some of your time to help them. But this sacrifice can be beneficial to you by causing you to be more active. Play with your child more and be active with them more. By doing this you can help the two most common resolutions adults have and that is to get more exercise and lose weight.
If your child does not have an activity that they currently do then let’s change that. Sit down with them and discuss what they would like to try. Come prepared with a list of activities that may be options. Do a google search on different sports and non sport activities and work through the list. Your child does not have to start by signing up for a sport. You can start just buying some of the basic equipment of the activity they are interested in and give it a try. If that goes well then find a league or gym that offers that sport or activity in an organized fashion.
More Variety of Movement
Many kids have some amount of activity. If you want to take their fitness to the next level then find a new activity that teaches them a new skill or challenges their bodies in a different way. I love cross training. I think it adds to kids’ athletic ability. If your child has a main sport then trying something different will only enhance their main activity. Often having a new activity can prevent the burn out that some kids get when they heavily commit to one sport.
The best thing about finding a new activity is that your child will learn a new skill. When kids learn skills at an early age they tend to keep them for life. Retaining the skill for life has to do with muscle memory. Which you can read more about in this blog. If your child collects skills when they are younger then they will have more activities that are available to them to use when they become adults. The more skills they have then the more likely they will be active adults.
So let’s do this. Lets have more movement and more variety in our movement this year. Sit down and have a conversation with your family. Do some research. Ask your friends what activities their children are doing. Let’s write out a plan for the year. Put it on your calendar so you won’t forget. This is the year to Move It!
