Kids spending too much time on the sofa and in front of a screen? That’s the usual complaint that parents,not only across the UAE, but across the globe, make.
Well, the good news is that a new initiative from The UAE Ministry of Education should help change all of that by launching a brand-new fitness campaign to promote health and fitness amongst kids and teens.
The campaign is called Daily Mile UAE and was created to help kiddos stay healthy and happy during school time.
As part of the over-arching campaign, there is new programme called the Daily15, which encourages primary and secondary kids to take part in exercises based on the number 15 such as 15 minutes of running, 15 jumping jacks at the start of each lesson or 15 single exercises spread throughout the school day.
Dubai College head of sports performance, Justin Walsh, explains why 15 is the perfect number when it comes to keeping primary and secondary school kids fit.
“Exercise for all kids should always be focused on fun. Even as adults or teenagers being told to do 15 minutes on the treadmill sounds arduous. The younger the child the more fun elements the ‘exercise’ or ‘workout’ should include,” Walsh says.
Walsh also outlines how imperative it is that students – whether they are at home or distance learning – should still be able to access exercise, not only for health benefits, but also as a form of stress and energy release.
“One of the most fundamental skills that we need to try and ingrain from a young age, is running,” he adds.
“Break down running into four or five movements and repeat those three times to reach your 15-minute target.”
Running exercises
Do 40 seconds of work and 20 seconds rest. Count how many reps you can do and try and beat it every time.
Fast feet Running on the spot, small fast steps only your toes touching the ground.
Heel flicks Running on the spot but trying to bring your feels all the way up behind you.
Fast arms Taking the arms through the motion of running.
High knees Bringing the knees as close to the chest as possible.
Pogo hops Jumping on the spot, with only your toes touching the ground.
Skipping On the spot driving opposite knee to hand into the air as high as we can.
“Other key movements that are easy to do at home, which are equally as challenging physically and mentally, are jumps,” Walsh says.
Jumping exercises
Try and hit a target of 15 of each of the following. The older the student the more targeted you can make it with trying to jump a certain distance or height with each jump.
Jumping jacks Stretch legs and arms out like a starfish while jumping, on the second jump return to a tall pencil position.
Tuck jumps Jumping as high as we can and trying to bring the knees to the chest while in the air.
Hurdle hops Jumping side to side or forward and back over a small object.
Broad jumps Trying to jump as far as we can from a two footed take off to landing
Hopscotch Starting on two feet, jumping forward landing on one leg then hoping forward to land on two feet again.
In addition, Walsh explains that ‘animal flow’ type movements are great to do at home. These are slightly different to the standard military squats, push-ups and sit ups.
Animal flow exercises
These can be done over a distance of 15 metres, or as repetitions of 15, and are great ways to keep students linked to our primal movements. These types of movements can help children to stay young and flexible.
Bear crawls Only our hands and feet on the ground (chest down) and crawling in all directions.
Crab Crawls Hands and feet on the ground, (chest facing the sky) and keeping the hips high
Lizard steps Starting in a press up position, bring the right foot up to the right hand and then reverse the movement, repeat on the left.
Downward dog to cobra In a press-up position push the bum as high as possible in the air, before dropping the hips to the ground some yogis out there may recognise these).
Beast holds Similar position to the bear crawl, just on our hands and feet knees just skimming the floor and holding that position for as long as possible.
And once all the hard work is done? “It’s also always good to finish a workout with some good stretches,” Walsh advises.
“Try and target the main muscle groups in the quads (front of the thigh), hamstrings (back of the thigh), back and chest. It will allow kids to calm down post exercise and easy back into daily tasks,” he concludes.
