Exercise Plans for Children Who Are Resistant to Movement
As we all know, participating in physical activities on a regular basis is very important for our children. It’s not only essential for their physical health and wellbeing, but also for their mental health as well. If your child isn’t a “natural athlete” or is greatly lacking genuine interest in participating in sports, finding ways to help your child get enough physical activity in their daily life can seem challenging (or even unobtainable) at times. My hope is that after reading this guide, parents of children who don’t aspire to be athletes will be able to look outside the box more effectively and ensure their child’s physical health needs are still adequately met.
Follow this 3-Step Guide to help your child find the joy in movement and increase their desires to be physically active without needing to rely on signing them up for recreational sports leagues that they will likely not enjoy.
*If your child is non-verbal, go ahead and skip straight to step 2.
Step 1: Help your child come up with a meaningful purpose behind being healthy
In order to be able to inspire your child to start disassociating physical activity directly with sports, and start thinking more creatively, it helps if you push them to really think big. In other words: give them a reason to be physically active that is greater and more personally meaningful than “because it’s good for me”.
This means sitting down with them and asking them questions about what they dream of someday achieving in their lives. See what really lights them up and then help them connect the dots between why being more physically active everyday could potentially increase their odds of achieving that dream sooner or maybe even enable them to dream even bigger!
For instance, if your child loves animals and dreams of working at a Zoo when they grow up, explain to them that by making healthy choices, they will have the energy and the strength needed to do physically demanding tasks associated with working at the Zoo, and therefore can take better care of the animals in that Zoo. Examples of physically demanding tasks might include:
Carrying heavy bags of food to feed all the elephants, rhinos, hippos, etc.
Walking all around the entire Zoo multiple times a day to make sure every single animal’s shelter is in good condition
After your child starts understanding the basics of why being healthier and moving more is in their best interest and that physical activity goes well beyond just sports-related activities, they will likely be more open to your suggestions for how they could start including more physical activity in their lives.
This leads us straight into step 2!
Step 2: Come up with a plan for how your child will get their exercise
Now that you and your child have established a more meaningful purpose behind getting more physical activity in, it is time to decide what they will actually be doing. For many, this might be the most challenging step. In order to come up with an actual exercise plan there are many different factors to consider.
What types of physical activities are currently within your child’s level of capability?
Is there an effective way to increase the difficulty of those activities to ensure your child progresses?
What are the potential injury risks associated with those activities and how do you best go about preventing your child from getting injured?
If you are truly stumped to come up with an ideal physical activity for your child, I would encourage you to think more broadly at first. You don’t need to come up with specific details (i.e. exercises, duration of activities, frequency of activities, etc.) the way a personal trainer typically does with their clients. Examples of how to think more broadly include:
I want my child to sit less and take more steps throughout the day
I want my child to spend more time outdoors without access to electronic devices
I want my child to do activities that greatly increase their heart rate and get them breathing harder
This can at least help guide you towards coming up with more specific activities later on as you come across different activities that adequately fulfill that more broad initial goal.
Also, try to have a willingness to experiment with various activities with the understanding that it’s ok to try something else if your child isn’t expressing any enthusiasm when asked if they would do it again. The whole point is to find physical activities that they enjoy so that they will continue to do them for the foreseeable future without feeling burnt out and falling into a negative mindset towards being active everyday. Examples of non-sports related physical activities that you could try with your child:
Going hiking
Being outdoors in nature has many health benefits beyond the physical challenge it provides
Jumping on a trampoline/playing at a trampoline park
If you have a backyard that can fit a trampoline, this could be a great investment for getting your child more physically active
If getting one for your home isn’t feasible, see if there are any indoor trampoline parks in your area
Playing on a jungle gym at the playground
It can be even more fun for many kids if other family members or friends climb around with them
Come up with challenges on the jungle gym for your child using the monkey bars, latters, slides, and whatever else that particular jungle gym has to offer
Walking around the neighborhood playing Pokemon Go
This one of the few activities where electronic devices are necessary, which may be more intriguing to your child than being asked to go outside purely for the sake of getting off the devices entirely
Sledding
The exercise comes from repeatedly hiking up the hill after sledding down
Bonus points if they also carry the sled up the hill themselves
Physically challenging video games
Not all video games can be played while sitting down the whole time
https://www.thegamer.com/fitness-video-games-active-exercise-gaming/
Step 3: Offer consistent positive reinforcement to increase and maintain motivation
Now that you have gotten your child more interested in giving some type of physical activity a try, it will be greatly beneficial for you to utilize one of the most fundamental skills necessary for promoting positive behavioral changes in your child: Positive reinforcement.
Children love it when you are actively paying attention to them. By positively reinforcing your child for doing something physically active, you are not only giving them the attention they greatly desire from you, but you are also increasing the odds of your child continuing to engage in a physically active manner going forward.
This is useful for much more than just for the actual chosen physical activity from step 2. It can also be used everywhere you go with your child. No matter how big or small the physical activity was, praise the heck out of it! Even if it seems trivial at first, consider the fact that your child has probably never been praised for that action ever before in their life, which means they will likely feel excited and more motivated to engage in that same action again in the future.
A classic example of a small action worth praising your child is for taking the stairs with you instead of the escalator or elevator. If you tell them that they did a great job using their strong legs and taking the stairs, you will catch their attention in a very intriguing manner. These little micro-moments of positive reinforcement can add up quickly the more you do it. Again, no matter how small the action is, by regularly offering your child positive reinforcement, it will inevitably increase their motivation to be physically active.
Key concept to note: It helps to be specific with your praise.
Keeping the stairs example, don’t just say “good job” after they walked up the staircase. Say something like “that was a great choice taking the stairs! Keep doing that and before you know it, you’ll have the strongest legs in the family!”
Conclusion
If there’s one thing to understand from this article, it’s this: It does not matter how your child gets their physical activity in. As long as your child is doing something that is both raising their heart rate and enjoyable (and preferably safe too), then you have succeeded in your mission!
P.S. Bonus points if the activity you and your child come up with is also engaging their muscles in a way that increases their current levels of strength, coordination, and balance!
