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Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Cardio Exercise---Is it Okay for Kids?

As adults we wonder which cardio exercise is better for us. We want to burn off as much fat as possible! Scientists discovered that during intensive exercises, your body burns glycogen, which is a form of stored carbohydrates that are stored in your liver and muscles for energy. During low intensity exercises, your body will burn a lot of fat. These exercises can include running or swimming. But have you tried to get your kid to go running or swimming for the sake of exercise? You were probably met with groans and objections.

Kids need cardio, just like adults. The question is how to get them to indulge in cardio exercise, whether it is high or low intensity. Here are a few simple suggestions:

• Trick them—but don’t lie to them. Encourage them to join you on a fun outdoor walk. Don’t talk about the benefits of walking. Host a swimming party at the local pool and have the children compete to see who can swim the most laps in the least amount of time. These exercises are great for kids.
• Make it fun for them. An Urban Rebounder can be used by anyone. This is great for the rainy days when your kids are full of energy they just have to expend. Made like a small trampoline, this piece of equipment is endorsed by NASA and can be enjoyed while watching television!
• Let them be like mom and dad. If you have gym equipment in your home, allow your children to create their own gym. Using adult equipment may injure little bones and joints. Find home gym equipment for them at www.fitnessandkids.com.
• Get up a sports team. Not all kids are in organized sports. Get up a neighborhood baseball league or tennis team. Team sports will provide great cardio exercise!

Cardio exercise will juice up your metabolism even after you have completed your workout. What this means, is that your body will continue to burn body fat hours after you have stopped. And the more cardio you do, the more energy you and your kids will have.

5 comments:

wagli01 said...

martial arts is a great activity for children. Not only is it a great source of exercise but it helps prevent bullying.

Graf's ATA Martial Arts

Anonymous said...

I could not agree more! I just want to add…To my mind, the Internet and video games as leading causes for the obesity crisis, as kids are tempted to stay inside rather than playing and exercising outdoors. My son was absolutely addicted, that’s why I bought parental control software Ez Internet Timer that allows to limit the amount of time he spent online. Great program! It lets me turn off my son’s internet when I want it to. Since then he began to spend more time with his friends, play football and lost some weight. I think he became happier and no doubt healthier.

Tammy said...

Hello, I just wanted to award your blog with the "lemonade" award. You have a great blog and it's deserving of it. :)

Now, the way the “When Life Gives You Lemons, make Lemonade” Award (for short, The Lemonade Award) works is:

1) You must link back to the person you received the award from.
2) You have to nominate 10 bloggers who are deserving of this award!
Thanks for a great blog. Yoou can grab the image at http://parentzone.blogspot.com

Tammy

Anonymous said...

I have found that using fun kids games which happen to incorporate cardio movements are very effective.

Even if your kids prefer indoors, that's not a problem. There is so much you can do indoors. Do you have a basement, large living room or a hallway?

Try it out!

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