'Bring your Child to Work-out Day!" THIS Thursday!

Dear clients, friends and family,

Thursday is National 'Bring your Child to Work Day'. We hope you take a different spin on it and "Bring your Child to Work-out Day!"

If you workout with us in Portland or Vancouver, we're hosting a special parent and kids workout day. Take your child to a class with you or bring them to your personal training session. It will be a great bonding experience and an opportunity to teach them to love to move their body! If you don't workout with us, check with your gym to make arrangements.

Bottom line - These days kids hardly get any activity. Most schoolwork involves sedentary activity and with television and video games as after-school pastimes, the temptation to sink into couch potato-land becomes pretty overwhelming for our kids. Check out these startling stats:

• Children today are approximately 40% less active than they were 30 years ago
• 20% of children and teens are overweight enough to threaten their future health
• One report states that the number of overweight children ages 6-11 has increased by 50% in the last 15 years and by 40% in those ages 12-17. Lack of exercise is considered a major contributing factor
• 40% of children already have at least one risk factor for heart disease and reduced fitness due to an inactive lifestyle
• Children spend an average of 26 hours a week watching television and also spend 25-30 hours a week sitting behind a desk

Here’s some goals you should strive for. The American College of Sports Medicine guidelines for exercise and children are as follows:

• Children should be involved in daily physical activity like walking or cycling around the neighborhood, performing household chores or running errands
• Children should exercise three times a week for at least 20 minutes with activities that require moderate to vigorous levels of exertion, like brisk walking, stair-climbing, racquet sports, jogging, dance, swimming laps, skating, cross-country skiing or cycling.
• For most children, it’s fine to do 15-20 minutes of resistance or strength training sessions twice a week using higher repetitions (25 reps) and lower resistance as long as there’s proper instruction and supervision
• Children should stretch on alternative days for 60 seconds each stretch
• Vary the activities to work different parts of the body
• Involve children in deciding what to do

Kids who exercise can experience the following benefits:
• Daily physical activity builds a healthy heart and stimulates muscle and bone growth
• Healthy, fit kids have more energy, sleep better and often have better eating habits than their sedentary peers
• One six year study found that the academic performance of students who exercised regularly had significantly improved compared to students who did not participate in regular physical activity
• It appears that children benefit from better concentration, memory, creativity, problem-solving ability and overall mood for up to two hours following exercise
• One report states that exercise can boost a child’s self-confidence and self-image. It also reduces aggression and decreases anxiety and depression.

Let's start 'em young folks!

Yours in health and fitness,

Sherri McMillan