by USAG-Humphreys

Gymfinity has a kids fitness program that is designed to appeal to ALL children. Its called Motion Evolution. Our program offers exercises for children in a group (or individually) that provide an increase in strength, flexibility, coordination and cardio-vascular fitness. It enhances their social skills as well as boosts their cognitive skills. But most of all, its great fun.
The easiest way to get anyone to work is to make their work more fun. Routinely at home we play Pick Up Clean Up to tidy up the house and the kids dont mind working a bit because they dont know its work. That same concept applies to the subway stairs in the video. How do we get people to make a better choice on something so mundane as climbing stairs? Make the stairs fun. How do we get kids to exercise and want to do it more? We do the same thing, make it fun.
In one of the Motion Evolution classes a Gymfinity coach/trainer Sateash had the kids playing a game. They had to move a mountain of foam blocks from one side of the floor to the other and overcome a few obstacles along the way: go under a low bridge, jump over a hoop, swing on a bar (holding their block in their feet) and when they finally got across, they had to use the block to build a castle. Every kid in the class worked together and the pace was, of course, as fast as you can go. Thats the game, but what was the benefit? With a fast pace, the kids were running (Cardio), going under the bridge meant crawling with the block between the knees, in push up position. In actuality they were doing a modified push up. Then to jump across the hoop they were really doing a long jump. Squeezing the block while swinging is a leg isometric exercise and swinging itself is an arm and shoulder strength skill. Building the castle required teamwork and communication skills as well as having to think about the structural stability of their castle. (Not to mention the ab workout from laughing so much). Whens the last time you got that much out of your workout?
Motion Evolution classes also build upon the childs physical literacy. As we need to comprehend numbers, letters and notes to be able to do math, read and write and play music, a child needs to practice simple movement patterns that become skills later in development. A swinging elephant nose to a small child can develop into a tennis forehand, a golf swing or a baseball pitch. Gymfinitys Motion Evolution takes that concept to levels appropriate to every child. Again learning by doing fun things makes the learning easier and lets a child own the lessons and recall the movement patterns without flaw.
Sadly at this time in our society we have a vast division between kids that move and kids that dont. The former are challenged at their own level and they most often develop into healthy and happy children and adults who enjoy sports and love the feeling of being fit. The latter are often kept away from being active because they see the division gap as so daunting that they are afraid to even approach a gym. Gymfinity, and gyms like it, have a stigma attached that this is a place for the first group of kids but not the second. With Motion Evolution that restriction, or the perception of it, is removed. Children are NEVER compared to each other and NEVER compared to a national standard. Theyll only be compared to themselves. Pre tests, post tests, and challenge days give children the feedback of their progress and help to set goals for their future. The direction is set by the child in conjunction with Sateash as a personal trainer. This program can mean the world to a child. It makes them feel good about themselves and gets them active and healthy. What more could we want for children?
For more information go to www.gymfinity.com.

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