Exercise Guidance
This page contains all the information you need for your child to exercise effectively. Specifically, this page includes:
- general recommendations of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans
- an overview of the health benefits from following the guidelines
- several resources with exercise videos for people of all ages
- basic guidance for resistance training
Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans
Ages 3-5 years
Be physically active throughout the day.
- Encourage many different activities (running, jumping, climbing, catching, throwing, kicking, etc).
- Be physically active with your child to help them build good habits.
- Find physical activities that are fun for your child - if they enjoy what they are doing it will be a better experience for everyone.
Ages 6-17 years
Perform ≥ 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity daily. Most of this should be aerobic activity. Perform vigorous-intensity, muscle-strengthening, and bone-strengthening activity at least 3 days a week.
- Aerobic activity is activity with continuous movement (like running) that gets you out of breath.
- Moderate-intensity physical activity is 5-6/10 on a difficulty scale, or where you can talk but not sing.
- Examples: riding a bike slowly, walking a mile in 15-20 minutes, resistance training, shoveling snow, or walking up stairs
- Vigorous-intensity physical activity is 7-8/10 on a difficulty scale, or causes you to become short of breath when saying a few words.
- Examples: playing basketball, soccer, tennis, hiking, jumping rope, or running a mile in <15 minutes
- Muscle-strengthening physical activity is activity against increased resistance.
- Examples: bodyweight exercises like push-ups, using resistance bands, lifting weights, carrying something heavy
- Bone-strengthening physical activity is activity that stresses the bones.
- Examples: running, jumping rope, playing basketball, lifting weights
Ages ≥ 18 years
Perform a combination of moderate-intensity (150-300 minutes) & vigorous-intensity (75-150 minutes) physical activity spread throughout the week. Perform muscle-strengthening activity of all major muscle groups ≥ 2 times per week.
- See definitions of moderate-intensity, vigorous-intensity, and muscle-strengthening physical activity above.
- In addition, moving more and sitting less throughout the day is beneficial.
- Older adults should additionally perform activities that include balance training.
Health benefits of meeting the guidelines
There are many reasons to exercise, with research showing that in children meeting the activity guidelines can:
- build muscle, strength, and athleticism
- increase cardiorespiratory fitness
- raise metabolism
- strengthen bones
- benefit sleep
- decrease unhealthy body fat stores
- enhance intelligence and academics
- aid mental health and self-esteem
- improve cardiometabolic risk factors
- help regulate hunger levels
In addition, in adults meeting the guidelines helps decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, falls and injuries, as well as death.
Exercise resources
There are many resources online to help you or your child exercise effectively, and I am including several of these below with a brief explanation and example of each. All of these resources are free. Consider looking through them in more detail to determine if they will be a good fit for your child or family.
EXRX
EXRX's exercise library is a collection of different exercises to work the various muscles, some with just body weight and others with equipment. You can click on a muscle and then click on an exercise to see it performed and learn more about it. You can consider paying $7 for a 4-week premium subscription to see many more exercises.
Example
Unlike the other resources that all have videos on YouTube, you will have to click on a link to see an example for EXRX. Here is the push-up page as one example.
Fitness Blender
Fitness Blender has hundreds of free workout videos with various difficulties, workout goals, and equipment requirements. These are better-suited for older children, adolescents, and adults. Use the filters to find suitable workouts and click on a video to open it in YouTube. They have one specific video geared towards younger children.
Example
HASfit
HASfit is a YouTube channel with many home-based exercise playlists better-suited for older children, adolescents, and adults, similar to Fitness Blender.
Example
Cosmic Kids Yoga
Cosmic Kids Yoga is a YouTube channel with yoga-themed videos aimed for young children. These can teach movement skills before progressing to higher-intensity activity.
Example
Danny Go!
Danny Go! is a YouTube channel with a collection of immersive dance and exercise videos for younger children.
Example
Miss Linky
Miss Linky is a YouTube channel with a collection of workout videos in immersive environments for younger children.
Example
GVO Kids
GVO Kids is a YouTube channel with a collection of workout videos aimed at children ranging from ages 3-12 years.
Example
GoNoodle
GoNoodle is a YouTube channel with a wide variety of videos on different topics, some of which include dancing and exercise.
Example
The Body Coach TV by Joe Wicks
The Body Coach TV by Joe Wicks has several playlists with exercise videos aimed at different ages; this one I have linked is designed for younger children.
Example
Little Sports
Little Sports is a collection of exercise videos designed for children from ages 6-12 years and skips out on some of the "silliness" seen in the other resources for younger children.
Example
Resistance training for children
Guidlines from the National Strength and Conditioning Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics provide guidance for how youth can engage in resistance training, starting as young as age 6-7 years old when they are able to follow directions with supervision. While your child can perform workouts in the videos in the resources listed above, if your child would prefer to follow a resistance training program for the muscle-strengthening portion of the physical activity guidelines then the rest of this page will give you the basic information you need.
Key principles
There are several key principles to keep in mind regarding resistance training that will help your child train successfully. Click on each princple below to learn more.
General recommendations
Below are general recommendations for children who are beginners to resistance training. Of note, each time you do 1 movement of an exercise (for example, 1 push-up), this is 1 "rep". If you do 5 reps and then stop, you have done 1 "set" of 5 reps.
Reps
aim for 8-12 reps per set, but 6-15 is ok
Sets
perform 1-3 sets per exercise (not including warm-ups)
Range
of Motion
aim for full reps with good form
Exercise selection
pick ones that target multiple muscles
Frequency
train each major muscle group 2-3 nonconsecutive days per week
Rep Speed
perform each rep quickly but in a controlled manner
When to Stop a Set
stop when you can only do 1-2 more reps with good form
Rest Between Sets
rest 60-90 seconds between sets of the same exercise
Example Workout Routine
Below is an example workout routine for children, adolescents, and adults. Click on each exercise for a description and links showing how to perform it.
Following the guidelines listed above, your child can perform 1-3 sets of each exercise and do the whole routine 2-3 nonconsecutive days per week. If your child is doing multiple sets they can do one set of each exercise and then start back at the beginning to save time.
This routine is designed to target the various major movement patterns and muscle groups of the body, but your child does not have to perform all of the listed exercises. If one of them feels uncomfortable and they cannot get the form down then they should not do that exercise. Instead, replace it with a different exercise or try to find a qualified trainer who can help teach your child correct form.
Conclusion
You should now understand the basics of the physical activity guidelines and how to help your child follow them. Remember, any physical activity is better than none, and children are more likely to be physically active if they enjoy what they are doing. If your child has any medical condition that may limit their ability to follow the guidelines then discuss this with their pediatrician or healthcare team.