For the most part, our little children are energetic little fireballs who constantly need reminding on how to channel their energy into constructive ways vs destructive one. The energy that children naturally have is often marvelled at by the adults around them...until they start to grow up and seemingly slow down and 'become lazy'.
Exercise is Necessary for Mental Health
Energetic children from 13 years old onwards are commonly seen in the sporting and athletic representation of the species, however your child doesn't have to be good at sports to use exercise as a way through to better health and vitality.
In fact, for the more academic children, embracing some regular exercise is often where the balance lies for their wellbeing. If your child loves to sit and study, ready, create and reflect - body movement is vital in keeping their lymphatic system cleaning itself up on a daily basis. Even 15 minutes of movement daily can wake up circulation to the brain and keep that academic flow going.
If your child is a study bunny, and experiencing trouble with keeping mental flow going - encourage them to get up from the books and go for a burst of movement. The beauty about young bodies is that they don't need long periods of activity to get the ball rolling again, but the timing of the activity is crucial.
If You Could Bottle It...
If you could put the benefits of exercise in a bottle and give it to your children every day, you would be achieving the following benefits within 20 min of a dose:
Pain Relief - soothing endorphins are circulated quickly in a child's body during movement - particularly if the movement is not putting extra stress on injured parts - this is most important to assess before a child undergoes activities Anti-Inflammatory - up to a point where exercise can become inflammatory depending on duration and intensity, the anti inflammatory effects of exercise can be felt very quickly Antioxidant promoting - the body protects itself from damage under certain conditions, including exercise Stress relieving - problem solving is often improved following and even during exercise Mood stabilising - my daughter comes out from a surf way happier than she was when she went in Prebiotic - bacterial activity changes and the environment is favoured for great probiotic outcomes during and after exercise Detoxifying - muscle contraction stimulates circulation and the movement of toxins around the body for better detoxification outcomes Immune Support - exercise will improve immune responses due the hermetic (good for you) stress it puts on your system Nootropic - this means that exercise increases mental cognition and motivation
For a child to thrive they need to 'feel' the surge of energy in their system, which can be impeded for a number of reasons, including emotional ones.
It is all too easy when faced with a challenge for a child to lay down, immerse into their devices and allow the problems of their fragile world to ruminate in their head. Children thrive when the important adults around them, engage and connect into their world, at their level, in a safe and playful way. This is where children are more teachable.
For older children, regular and more lengthy rest periods are also needed for brain development, so it is important that they are allowed adequate time out as well as functional movement that hits all the benefits listed above.
I can highly recommend boxing for children as a fast activity to improve mood and fitness in the same session and have left a link below to a great class here on the Gold Coast for my local readers.
Finally, whilst exercise is extremely beneficial for children, combining that with a diet and supplemental program that also offers similar outcomes as the beneficial points above can be very powerful indeed. If you would like your child to thrive, not just survive - let's get together and map out a plan that will really see them pumped for a great future!
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