Excess weight on children is caused simply by eating too much food and getting too little exercise. Overeating junk food and sitting in front of the television for hours on end is a recipe for disaster in a child’s life. To combat childhood obesity and get kids involved in sports and exercise for fun, this workout by Denise Austin is a step in the right direction.
Denise Austin
Denise Austin is self proclaimed “America’s Favorite Fitness Expert”. She has sold more than 20 million exercise videos and has had two television shows: Denise Austin’s Daily Workout and Fit & Lite. Her 82 exercise videos keep people of all ages and stages of fitness moving around.
Fit Kids DVD
The DVD includes two workouts: Fit Kids and Fit Family. Each workout runs about 20 minutes and is recommended for ages 8 and up. No special equipment is required, although a ball is used in the Fit Family workout, the exercises can be done without one.
Fit Kids Workout
The Fit Kids workout consists of four sections
- Warm-up
- Cardio
- Strength training
- Cool down
Throughout the exercises, Denise is energetic and very encouraging to the kids. Her pep talks during exercising focus encouraging the kids to be strong and healthy, fit and happy, rather than skinny or focusing on losing pounds or weight. This sends a positive message to kids about being healthy and in shape rather than trying to be a certain size. She encourages them to be strong and challenge their bodies with exercise.
Fit Kids Cardio
The cardio section of the Fit Kids workout uses many movements that kids will be familiar with already:
- Hula hoop
- Swimming movements with the arms
- Basketball movements
- Running drills
- Soccer kicks
- Jumping rope
- Walking
The movements are mostly simple and easy to follow.
Strength Training Workout
The strength portion of the workout is fairly simple, using body weight only movements.
- Planks
- Pushups
- Bicycles for abs
- Different types of crunches
- Dips
- T-stands
- Superman
Workout Concludes with Stretching
The Fit Kid workout concludes with a cool down that includes different yoga moves to stretch the muscles and work on balance.
Fit Family Workout
Part two of the DVD is a workout just for families. Denise leads a family of five through a workout that uses a lot of partner movements to warmup, do a cardio segment, and a strength training segment. The family workout could also be done with just two kids.
Strength Training
The Family Fit workout involves working with a partner to complete several core and strength training exercises.
A basketball is used for several of the core exercises, but is not required. Any size ball or medicine ball can be used in it’s place, or they may be done without it.
Watch First
Denise Austin’s Kid Fit DVD is a great workout routine for kids 8 and up when it’s hard to get outside due to the weather, or they need a break from homework. Since she doesn’t provide a lot of direction or descriptions of the exercises it may be beneficial to watch the video once before doing the workout to become familiar with the movements.
For a Denise Austin video for adults see Denise Austin 10 Five Minute Target Toners Dvd. For information on other workout videos, see 30 Day Shred Workout DVD Review and Bravo's Workout: One On One Training With Jackie.
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