In a day where the percentage of over weight adults in the United States has increased extensively and obesity in children is on the climb, it is important to instill healthy values in children early on. Children must be taught at an early age the importance of eating the right foods and exercising regularly to maintain a healthy body.
To stay healthy and maintain a healthy weight, children, like adults, also need to make fitness and exercise a regular part of their daily lives. To keep your child from becoming overweight, there are several ways to help him or her stay in shape. But making physical activity a regular part of his or her life should not be a chore. It should be something your child has fun doing.
Gymnastics is an enjoyable way for children, both boys and girls, to exercise. It helps kids strengthen their arms, legs and abdominal muscles. In addition, it helps develop coordination, agility, balance, flexibility, strength, and motor proficiency. If your child is new to gymnastics, they will need to start in a beginner class, which usually consists of developing motor skills. Motor development would most likely involve learning how to tumble, make bridges and do cartwheels, handstands and splits.
But as your child becomes a young adult, if he or she becomes interested in advancing his or her activity level, they will get to use fun apparatus such as the balance beams, vault, uneven bars and trampolines. Using gymnastic equipment does not just build strength and flexibility and motor proficiency. Using this equipment also requires it.
Gymnastics uses all parts of the body—upper, middle and lower. It is important to condition these parts of the body in order to become a better gymnast. Because gymnastics requires lots of upper body strength—especially for using uneven bars, rings or even doing handstands—exercises that work your arms, shoulders, chest and back are a must. Doing push-ups and pull-ups, or lifting weights are a great way to condition the upper portion of the body.
The abs are probably one of the most important muscles when it comes to doing gymnastics. Having a strong torso, abs and back help the body stay tight and control movements better. Exercises such as sit-ups, crunches and knee tucks will help strengthen the middle part of the body.
Lastly, it is also important to condition the lower portion of the body. Gymnastics requires strong and powerful legs for balancing, sprinting, jumping and flipping. The legs need the power to push the body high and fast in all gymnastics routines. Stair climbing or doing a few reps of exercises such as lunges and leg curls will bring the legs up to speed.
Gymnastics can be a lot of fun for children. It is a great way for them to build confidence and meet other kids their age. Most importantly, it involves them in a healthy and active lifestyle at an early age, which they can carry into adulthood.