Aerobics For Children: An Ideal Exercise
Aerobics for children are considered a fun practice and the first type of exercise that little ones can do. From four years of age, children can be guided to perform stretching and relaxation exercises that help them get to know their body and gradually strengthen their muscles.
Aerobics derive from gymnastics. The way to practice them is by making movements of the trunk and limbs to the sound of music and following the movements of a guide or instructor. This is, generally, the one who gives classes to several participants in open spaces or in rooms equipped with mirrors.
Although aerobics for children maintain the same principle as that practiced by adults, the intensity and the time that the training lasts varies. This depends on the age of the group of participants. Next, we will tell you more about this beneficial exercise.
Aerobics for children: a highly recommended alternative
Although the first training of aerobic exercises was linked to military practices, starting in 1970, doctors around the world began to recommend it as an ideal activity to keep the heart, lungs and muscles with optimal function and tone .
This is how different types of aerobic exercises arise adjusted to the needs of specific groups of individuals. Within this population, children were considered as beneficiaries of these practices.
The common denominator of all varieties of aerobic exercise, including the children’s modality, is moderately elevated breathing and heart rate. This, in addition, must be prolonged for a set time to burn fat and sugar, while generating energy and tone in the muscles.
What is an aerobics class for children?
As we mentioned before, children can begin to perform aerobic exercises from four to ten years of age ; Of course, the intensity must be commensurate with your abilities. An aerobics class for children would include the following elements:
- Music not too fast, preferably a nursery rhyme that the little ones like.
- Begin with gentle and gentle warm-up exercises, which would include circular movements for the extremities: head, arms, legs, and feet.
- Teaching choreography or movements that children find fun to repeat and with which they can increase their resistance as the class progresses.
- Include at least two or three moments of rest within the schedule established for the activity; in this way, the child can drink water and catch his breath.
- End the class with relaxation and stretching exercises; These include gentle movements analogous to those performed at the beginning and also accompanied by slow and prolonged breaths.
It is important to clarify that activities such as walking, running, dancing or jumping are also considered aerobic exercises. Therefore, the instructor may make variations in the classes and include some of these types of exercises at his discretion.
Benefits of aerobic exercises for children
Aerobic exercises provide multiple benefits to the health of children when they practice them regularly. It is clear that, if this activity helps to burn fats and sugars in the body, children who are overweight or already classified by the doctor as suffering from obesity should advocate to this practice to return to their ideal weight values.
The list of benefits includes the following:
- Children develop balance from the perception of space and movement.
- They become more agile and learn to master their body.
- They learn to be uninhibited to the sound of music and dance.
- They strengthen your bones, muscles, and tendons.
- They improve your cardiac and respiratory resistance.
- They fight obesity and sedentary lifestyle.
- They lower the levels of total cholesterol in the blood.
- Decreases adrenaline levels, which generate stress in children.
- It improves neurogenesis, which translates as an improvement in intellectual capacity.
With all the advantages that aerobic exercise gives the body, it is totally advisable to introduce children to this activity. If you can join them or invite their friends to join them, you will surely gain their enthusiasm so that it becomes a very healthy habit in their lives.
