Youth Fitness and why it matters
As a coach I have learned over the years that if you keep the same playbook for the same season you will not always succeed with your youth. Each season brings upon new challenges not just for the youth but also for the coach. It is important to always look for new ways to engage, motivate and inspire youth. As the world of fitness evolves it is so important to make sure we are able to learn and grow with new forms of fitness and technology to better engage our youth. As a youth development specialist and coach it is important for me and the people I work with to take youth fitness seriously. America is struggling when it comes to getting youth engaged in fitness. According to a healtheramerica.org, “Since 1980, the obesity prevalence among children and adolescents has almost tripled.” We are struggling in America with getting youth active outdoors or in the gym. How do we address this problem? I have a few suggestions.
- Ask youth you work with what types of exercises, sports or outdoor activities they would like to try or be a part of.
- Ask youth what type of shows, video games or things they view online are interesting to them and use those very games to create fitness circuits around those games. For example: Create a Fortnight Fitness Circuit with medicine ball station, obstacles with hurdles and resistance training to make it interesting.
- Constantly introduce new workout equipment to them or exercises so they are engaged in learning and are challenged.
Together as a nation we need to include youth into the dialogue around youth fitness and help create a stronger sense of agency when it comes to battling the problem around diabetes. I believe that through innovative ways of learning, teaching and most importantly listening we can address this issue.
