North Coast Miller
Level 9 Valued Member
Off and on have been giving my twins - now 11, different circuits and routines to keep them moving.
They are somewhat active, but am really noticing that their movement habits are very much like an adult's, if they don't consciously DO some activity, they get very little spontaneous exercise. I suspect this is true of an increasing percentage of kids today and for a bunch of reasons.
Anyway, they (I) have struggled with proper form and I've been unwilling to load them up, so have just been doing bodyweight stuff for the last few months, 20 minutes 3 times a week. It gets them moving but does not appear to be very challenging.
Have taken the plunge and am starting them into some resistance training, using the filler bags that came with my commercial sandbags. These will fit up to 30lbs of sand, am starting them out with about 10kg which is approx 1/4 bodyweight.
Due to their attention span I plan to rotate exercises every week or two at the most. Have also resigned myself to doing most of the session with them or at least with me right there to supervise full time. With the bodyweight stuff they could train unsupervised most of the time after the first couple of weeks, that won't be happening any time soon with external resistance.
Finally they are gaining some awareness of lumbar curvature and reasonable form with a loaded squat and bent row. Spent a lot of time last night working on sandbag get-ups - unloaded get ups actually with a throw pillow as a stand in for the bag. This is going to take a couple of sessions, but they are coming along better than I expected and most importantly I haven't done anything so far to wreck their positive attitude.
Great learning experience for me and them hopefully. This size sandbag could last them a few, till they are big enough for one of the smaller commercial bags or transition into another mode. Is a good way to learn all the basic movement patterns common to most external resistance exercise.
Current session:
-Jumping jacks warmup
-Space out three bags the length of the living room and hop with feet together out and back, repeat x10 = 60 hops
-Space out three bags the length of the living room and side hop with feet together out and back, repeat x10
-Offset shoulder squat x8
-2H overhead press x10
-Bent rows x10
-Getups x10 (5 each side)
2 repeats, soon to be three.
The plan calls for the hopping components to be swapped with jumping lunges, mountain climbers, and box jumps (have to make a box).
Squats will be subbed out with step ups (again, waiting on the box).
Overhead press subbed with pushups
Bent rows subbed with cleans
Getups subbed with deck squats, but that could take quite some time.
I'd feel better if they were getting more outdoor time or had affinity for a sport, but they have zero interest in that. My boy takes swim lessons and my daughter recently quit gymnastics due to the social atmosphere in her class, will probably sign her up for some MA. My niece attends a local Kyokushin school and really likes it, competes all over the NE and Canada. Either way they need something else to keep in shape if they won't do so spontaneously, so the journey continues...
Anyone that's had success or failure with similar, feel free to comment/add/critique.
They are somewhat active, but am really noticing that their movement habits are very much like an adult's, if they don't consciously DO some activity, they get very little spontaneous exercise. I suspect this is true of an increasing percentage of kids today and for a bunch of reasons.
Anyway, they (I) have struggled with proper form and I've been unwilling to load them up, so have just been doing bodyweight stuff for the last few months, 20 minutes 3 times a week. It gets them moving but does not appear to be very challenging.
Have taken the plunge and am starting them into some resistance training, using the filler bags that came with my commercial sandbags. These will fit up to 30lbs of sand, am starting them out with about 10kg which is approx 1/4 bodyweight.
Due to their attention span I plan to rotate exercises every week or two at the most. Have also resigned myself to doing most of the session with them or at least with me right there to supervise full time. With the bodyweight stuff they could train unsupervised most of the time after the first couple of weeks, that won't be happening any time soon with external resistance.
Finally they are gaining some awareness of lumbar curvature and reasonable form with a loaded squat and bent row. Spent a lot of time last night working on sandbag get-ups - unloaded get ups actually with a throw pillow as a stand in for the bag. This is going to take a couple of sessions, but they are coming along better than I expected and most importantly I haven't done anything so far to wreck their positive attitude.
Great learning experience for me and them hopefully. This size sandbag could last them a few, till they are big enough for one of the smaller commercial bags or transition into another mode. Is a good way to learn all the basic movement patterns common to most external resistance exercise.
Current session:
-Jumping jacks warmup
-Space out three bags the length of the living room and hop with feet together out and back, repeat x10 = 60 hops
-Space out three bags the length of the living room and side hop with feet together out and back, repeat x10
-Offset shoulder squat x8
-2H overhead press x10
-Bent rows x10
-Getups x10 (5 each side)
2 repeats, soon to be three.
The plan calls for the hopping components to be swapped with jumping lunges, mountain climbers, and box jumps (have to make a box).
Squats will be subbed out with step ups (again, waiting on the box).
Overhead press subbed with pushups
Bent rows subbed with cleans
Getups subbed with deck squats, but that could take quite some time.
I'd feel better if they were getting more outdoor time or had affinity for a sport, but they have zero interest in that. My boy takes swim lessons and my daughter recently quit gymnastics due to the social atmosphere in her class, will probably sign her up for some MA. My niece attends a local Kyokushin school and really likes it, competes all over the NE and Canada. Either way they need something else to keep in shape if they won't do so spontaneously, so the journey continues...
Anyone that's had success or failure with similar, feel free to comment/add/critique.