7 Strength Training Exercises for Kids

Do you want your child to be stronger and healthier? Of course, you do! Strength training is a great way for kids to improve their health and fitness.

In this blog post, we will discuss 10 strength training exercises that are fun and effective.

These exercises are fun and challenging, and they will help your child build muscle and stay healthy. To maintain consistency, you can put your child on a workout routine. Your child will have a blast getting stronger and healthier!

What are the Best Strength Training Exercises for Kids?

There are many different strength training exercises that kids can do, but some exercises are better than others. The best strength training exercises for kids are those that are safe, effective, and fun. Here are our top picks:

1.   Arm Circles:

This is a great workout for kids as its fun and can serve as a warm up. Arm circles help to build muscles mostly in your shoulders but also in your triceps and biceps. Do this workout with your kids and watch them grow strong arms.

How to do Arm Circles

• Start by standing upright with your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Extend your arms above you sideways till they’re at the same level as your shoulder.
• Start moving them in a circular motion continuously.
• You can count till 30 and then pause.
• Do this 2 or 3 times.

2.   Marching in place:

This is another warm up you could have your kids do. This fun workout will prepare them for the other more intense workouts on this list.

Just like the name implies, you simply march in place repeatedly while slowly increasing the pace.

While performing this workout, ensure that their knees are coming all the way up to their waist at least, and that their hands are moving to imitate a marching motion.

You could sing a song with them as you do this and have them stop marching when the song finishes.

3.   Push-ups:

Push-ups are a great way for kids to build upper body strength. They can be done anywhere, and they don’t require any equipment. In addition, push-ups are a great way to improve coordination and balance.

Do a few sets of push-ups with your child every day, and watch them get stronger!

How to do a Push Up

• To do a push-up, start in a plank position with your hands on the ground and your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Lower your body down to the ground, and then push back up to the starting position.
• Repeat this as many times as your child can on their first trial and increase it as they continue to workout.

If your child is having trouble doing full push-ups, they can start by doing them on their knees. Help them to keep their core engaged and their back straight during the exercise.

4.   Sit-ups:

Sit ups are another great exercise for kids. They help build core strength and improve posture. In addition, sit-ups are a great way to improve coordination and balance.

Do a few sets of sit-ups with your child every day, and watch as their core gets stronger!

How to do a Sit Up

• To do a sit up, start by lying on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the ground.
• Place your hands behind your head, and then lift your torso up off the ground.
• Return to the starting position, and repeat the exercise.

While doing sit-ups, it’s important to keep your back straight and your core engaged.

5.   Squats:

Squats will help your kids build lower body strength. They help improve coordination and balance, and they’re a great way to tone your child’s legs.

How to do a Squat

• Start by having your child stand with their feet shoulder-width apart.
• Then, have them lower their body down into a squatting position.

Note: Make sure their knees don’t go past their toes and help them to keep their back straight. Return to the starting position, and repeat the exercise.

6.   Lunges:

How to do a Lunge

• Start by having your child stand with their feet shoulder-width apart.
• Then, have them take a large step forward with one leg.
• Lower their body down into a lunge position, making sure their back knee doesn’t touch the ground.
• Return to the starting position, and repeat the exercise with the other leg.

Help your child to keep their core engaged and their back straight during the exercise. Support their weight if necessary.

7.   Planks:

If you’ve never tried the plank exercise before, then you might think that planks are easy, but they’re actually quite challenging! But planks are a great workout for the core and overall body. Planks help build core strength and improve posture.

In addition, planks are a great way for kids to build core strength. They help improve posture and coordination and are a great way to tone your child’s abs.

How to do a Plank

• To do a plank, start by having your child lie on their stomach with their hands on the ground and their feet shoulder-width apart.
• Then, have them lift their body up off the ground, keeping their core engaged.
• Let them hold that position for 30 seconds at first and then increase the time as they continue to workout.
• Make sure they breathe properly as they perform this workout.

Benefits of Strength Training for Children

While workouts in general are known to have numerous benefits, strength training provides unique benefits especially in young children. It improves their posture, coordination, balance, strength, confidence, and many more.

Let’s look at some of the benefits of strength training for your kids.

1. Improved health and fitness:

Some of the workouts above like squats, arm circles and planks will get your kids blood pumping faster. This alone provides numerous benefits for them like preventing the risks of diabetes, obesity, cancer and so on.

Doing this workout frequently will result in overall health and fitness of your kids.

2. Stronger muscles and bones:

Strength training is a certain type of workout routine that focuses on strengthening the muscles and bones rather than burning fat.

Workouts like planks will strengthen your child’s entire body muscles. This will make them stronger, fitter and less likely to get muscle or bone related illnesses early.

3. Reduced risk of injury:

Repeated and frequently performing certain strength training exercises like arm circles and squats will boost your child’s endurance and flexibility.

Their muscles and bones will get used to being stretched once in a while and they’ll be less likely to get injuries as a result of their increased flexibility.

4. Better coordination and balance

5. Increased confidence

Conclusion

Strength training is a specific type of workout that focuses on muscle growth rather than the general burning fat. It has numerous benefits such as increased strength, improved posture and balance, low risk of illnesses and injuries and many more.

Making your kids perform this type of workout prepares them for a healthy lifestyle. In this blog, we have outlined 7 strength training workouts for your kids to do.

Do these workouts with them and watch them stronger!

Related reading: Yoga Exercise, How Yoga Improves Your Health