kids’ fi tness
THE NEXT GENERATION
DMITRIY SHIRONOSOV /
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
WITH THEIR NATURAL ENERGY, GETTING CHILDREN INVOLVED IN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY SHOULD BE EASY – BUT THEY’RE A DISCERNING AUDIENCE AND THERE’S A SCIENCE TO GETTING IT RIGHT. KATH HUDSON TAKES A LOOK AT A SELECTION OF INITIATIVES THAT SEEM TO HAVE CRACKED THE FORMULA
It’s no secret that kids need to be doing more exercise. The Department of Health recommends an hour’s moderate exercise every day; the World Health Organization agrees with that duration, but thinks the intensity should be moderate to vigorous. But with school sport in decline and lifestyles generally less active, this is becoming harder to achieve. The FIA has recently launched a set of guidelines for operators wanting to introduce exercise to the under-18s (see HCM Feb 12, p36), but there’s already some great food for thought from across the sector. We review some existing initiatives which offer inspiration to those wanting to do more to cater for kids.
LES MILLS
Group fi tness expert Les Mills is now turning its attention to children, with new programmes currently being trialled around the world; the offi cial launch date is yet to be set. “We know the power of group
fi tness, and we’re applying our formula to an exercise solution for children, so they get active and exercise, but also want to do it,” says CEO Phillip Mills. “Getting someone to love exercise is the fi rst step to infl uencing their future, and that’s the basis we’ve started from – they’ve got to love it to want to do it again and again.” The classes cater for different age
groups: fi ve- and six-year-olds; seven- year-olds; eight- to 12-year-olds; and 13-
58 Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital
to 15-year-olds. Broadly speaking, the younger classes are more dance-based, with storytelling techniques to engage the youngest children; as they get older, there’s less dance and more conditioning and martial arts. Age-appropriate music is used at each stage. “So far, feedback is showing the
importance of a fl exible approach, tailored to the fi tness level of the children in the class. They must all feel successful at the end of it,” says Mills. “A key learning is that children need to be motivated in a different way from adults. The fi tness industry thinks of children generically, when really they need different things at different ages and stages.”
june 2012 © cybertrek 2012
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