Welcome back to this week’s edition of 2-Minute Tuesdays where we are talking about one exercise topic for two minutes and giving you three reasons why you should follow our advice. Now this week, we are talking to those of you who are a little bit younger; in fact, you are under 15 years old. What things should you be doing with your exercise now to make sure you stay safe and are able to exercise for life?
1) Keep Your Workouts Balanced
Exercise Tip Number One If You Are Under 15 Years Old – Keep your workouts balanced. It is important to be working, stimulating, and building your muscles in all areas of your body and with all motions of your body, not just a few. So, when you are first starting out with exercising and you are young, make sure you are keeping your workouts balanced so your body gets built in a balanced way.
Action Step: Do not rely on sports to be your sole form of exercise. While playing sports can keep you physically active, you need to include other forms of exercise to help promote your health.
Related: Improve your balance with these 3 strength training tips
2) Prioritize Your Recovery
Exercise Tip Number Two If You Are Under 15 Years Old – Prioritize your recovery. One of the biggest things we see with young kids with sports practices or working out on their own is, because they are young, they seem to recover faster than average. But, this only lasts for so long. Eventually, the harder you workout, the more you are going to need to recover, and by not giving yourself that recovery, injury in bound to happen. So, build in that recovery time; don’t workout too hard too often; and listen to your body, working out appropriately for your body instead of crushing it every time.
Action Step: Listen to your body! Overuse injuries are incredibly common among high school age kids and younger, especially those involved in sports. Listen to what your body is telling you and allow your body time to recover as it needs to.
Related: Former Athletes – 3 Tips for Exercising After Athletics
3) Learn Proper Form
Exercise Tip Number Three If You Are Under 15 Years Old – Find a way to learn appropriate and proper form. This can be done through doing a class at a gym, hiring an educated personal trainer, or talking to a certified strength and conditioning coach. Make sure you are figuring out how to do the appropriate form for each exercise while you are working out. This will not only help to prevent injuries, but it will also make sure that you are stimulating the right muscles with each exercise.
Action Step: Find a certified Resistance Training Specialist® who can help you learn proper exercise form in your area here!
