When it comes to our little ones, we only want the best. That’s why we spend so much time, money, and effort into providing everything they need and setting up an environment conducive to nurturing and growth. One of the best ways to do that is to instill healthy exercise habits early, as it makes them easier to maintain later in life and they can reap the health benefits that much earlier. But as with most things in life, a level of moderation is key. Here, we would like to go over some healthy exercise habits for kids, as well as when too much exercise can be detrimental.

60 Minute Minimum

The United States lags behind some countries in regards to the amount of healthy exercise kids are allowed. It is recommended that children get at least 60 minutes of exercise per day. While that may seem like a lot all at once, it is generally done in piecemeal a few minutes at at time, as kids’ attention spans tend to function in spurts. In many first world countries around the globe, parents are recommended to give their children three hours of exercise a day. So let’s not let American exceptionalism lag behind, and get those kids active!

Aerobic and Anaerobic

It’s important to get both aerobic and anaerobic exercise activities in your kid’s schedule to reap the maximum health benefits from exercise. Without getting too much into the science of it, aerobic and anaerobic just refer to ways your body produces energy (with or without oxygen). Aerobic (with oxygen absorption) exercises include running, biking, hiking, etc. Anaerobic (without oxygen absorption) exercises include weight lifting, gymnastics, pushups, etc. There is anaerobic and aerobic energy production in any exercise, but the degree varies greatly. As long as your kid is doing an activity associated with either with any regularity, they will be reaping the benefit from both.

When to Tone It Back

Luckily, kids are very good at knowing their limits. Problems usually only start to arise when kids are forced into one size fits all training regimens, like those commonly found in team sports. That isn’t to say team sports aren’t a great tool for exercise and socialization, parents and coaches just need to be aware that kids grow at different rates, and have different limits. There is a good rule of thumb for kids entering team sports, and that is they should only do regimented sports training one hour a week for every year they’ve been alive. That would mean for a 12 year old, you wouldn’t want more than 12 hours of organized sport training.

Here at Rebounderz, our Edison trampoline park is a great way for kids to get all the exercise they need in a fun environment. It is a great way to make exercise fun, and it also provides a great environment for kids to learn and build on social skills. If you’re interested in learning more about our Edison trampoline park, please don’t hesitate to give one of our friendly representatives a call today!