Teens don’t have to be superstars to exercise
St Louis Post-Dispatch
Packet #17
Want to feel good about yourself? Want to
have more energy in life? Want to do better
in school and feel more confident when you
give that speech in front of your classmates?
One thing can help you do all that: exercise.
The U.S. government recommends teenagers be active for sixty minutes a day, most
days of the week. But that doesn’t mean they
have to join a sports team or go out and run
five miles.
For those teens who play sports, that’s generally not a problem. Soccer, football, basketball, track and cheerleading all provide
great workouts. But what if you are not into
sports? Whether you are no good at them,
don’t have time for them or are just not interested, sports aren’t the end all and be all
to exercise.
“You don’t have to be
superactive to get the benefits
of exercise,”
“It’s not about being the greatest athlete, it’s
about staying active,” says Mike Linn, director of Velocity Sports Performance in
Chesterfield. “The great thing about sports
now with X games and all the different sports
like skateboarding and such is that there are
so many things you can do to stay fit. Ten or
15 years ago it was pretty much just basketball, baseball, football.”
“You don’t have to be superactive to get the
benefits of exercise,” says Ron Ramspott,
health education, outdoor education and
physical education coordinator for the Parkway School District. “We’re just talking
about being moderately active - walking, for
example.”
The New England Journal of Medicine recently reported that obese teenagers in the
top twenty-five percent of their weight categories have twice the death rate in their 70s
as men and women who were thin as teens.
If that isn’t enough to make you get off the
couch, think about this: Starting a healthy
lifestyle when you’re young can make your
life as an adult a whole lot easier. Being active will help you fend off diseases such as
diabetes, heart trouble and stroke.
“The big thing is it’s a lifestyle issue. It’s
important that at a young age you build a
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healthy lifestyle,” Linn says. “That will lead
into young adulthood and maybe start a lifetime of being healthy.”
Fitness options:
The good news is that except for powerlifting
(some experts suggest powerlifting may not
be a good idea if your body is still growing),
nothing is off limits. You can dance - in a
class or in a club; walk, jump-rope, go skateboarding, take a martial arts class, swim, go
rock climbing, ice skate, even go to Pilates
with your mom.
Linn says. “A lot of the time we see kids who
want to lose weight. But they don’t want to
go to a gym, to sit on a machine. . . . Everybody has some level of competitiveness.
That’s just human nature. We tap into that
and let kids have fun.”
Fun is a key component, say experts.
At the Jefferson County YMCA, physical
director Shelley Otec runs a class for teens
and pre-teens that incorporates almost every
kind of fitness you can imagine.
“We do step aerobics, kickboxing, dodgeball,
bootcamp (where we run sprints and do
jumping jacks), cycle, swim, circuit training,
hop, race each other. We make it fun for them.
If it’s fun for them, they’ll keep coming
back.”
And it’s not about being a superstar athlete,
experts say. “How many kids are going to be
a pro athlete?” Linn says. “Kids need to find
something that they like, that they can keep
doing into adulthood. Keep trying some sport
until you find the one you like. Variety is the
spice of life.”
You can even attend special classes for people
who want to play and be active, but don’t
want to join a sports team. Velocity Sports
Performance has small group classes for that
purpose.
“Everybody has goals . . . maybe that’s just
to try something you haven’t tried before,”
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Ramspott agrees. At the Parkway schools, he
says, they try to emphasize the philosophy
of achieving your personal best. Even if that
just means your best when it comes to an
activity most kids can do: walking. The
school often gives students pedometers to
wear. They get a baseline reading and try to
improve on that. The pedometers don’t pit
students against each other, but simply gauge
whether a student can do better one week than
he or she did the week before.
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According to Ramspott, there are several key
components when it comes to teens and exercise.
First, as we’ve said, find something you like
to do.
Next, make sure that something is somewhat
challenging, so it holds your interest over
time. But also make it something at which
you can be successful.
Finally, find something that you can incorporate into your lifestyle, so you take it with
you beyond high school.
And being fit has another important benefit:
improved self-esteem.
“I think in the society we live in, so much is
based on appearance,” Otec says. “It’s so hard
for kids to handle sometimes. But fitness will
make a child feel more accepted and better
about themselves. For a teen, that’s so important.”
Tips:
• Try and try again: Don’t give up until
you find something you like.
• Turn off the TV: People who sit in front
of the TV or a computer for several hours
a day have a greater propensity toward
obesity.
• If you can’t find a sport you like, just try
to walk more. Put on a pedometer and
strive to take more and more steps each
day.
• Get an older kid you admire to help you
with a sport you like.
• Talk your parents into giving you little
rewards for being more active.
• Get your friends to join you. You’re more
likely to stick with something if it also
has a social aspect.
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Questions: Packet #17
Name___________________
Answer the following questions in the space provided.
Use complete sentences and accurate spelling.
1. What is the US government’s recommendation for daily and weekly teen activity level?
2. Who is Ron Ramspott?
3. What did the New England Journal of Medicine recently report?
4. What diseases can being active help you fend off?
5. What is a key component to getting and keeping teens exercising?
6. Why is getting your friends to join you in exercise important?
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Crossword: Packet #17
Name___________________
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Being active will help fend off _____
These don’t pit students against each other
It’s not about being a superstar _____
Find something you _____ to do
A healthy _____ now can make your life as an adult easier
Powerlifting may not be a good idea if your body is still _____
The New England _____ of Medicine
Fitness will make a child feel more _____
This sport provides a great workout
Works for Parkway School District
This is the spice of life
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These aren’t the end all and be all to exercise
You don’t have to be superactive to get the _____ of exercise
Get friends to _____ you
Physical director at Jefferson County YMCA
Talk your parents into giving you little _____
You can do this to have more energy
_____ Sports Performance
This is a key component to exercise
It’s important that at a young _____ you build a healthy lifestyle
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Health #17
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