Be Your Child’s Personal Trainer: Dance Fitness

Motivating kids to move when they’re not naturally inclined to be active can be a challenge. In a previous column I outlined the pros and cons of hiring a personal trainer to work with your child. If you have a child at home who avoids team sports or other traditional forms of exercise, a personal trainer may be just what you need to inspire your child to be active. But finding a qualified trainer who fits into your budget can be even trickier than getting your kids away from the computer and into their workout clothes.

Here’s where you, the knowledgeable and inspirational parent that you are, can step in and make a difference in your child’s health. You can be your child’s personal trainer. But even with all your good intentions, you may still have a child who is resistant to the idea of training with mom or dad. When it comes to what works, you know your child best. It may be better to just slip in the activities without making a big deal about it. Or you may have the kind of kid who likes to make it official by logging all the time spent exercising with you in a journal. Either way, make the training sessions fun, light-hearted, and brief- about 30 minutes. Even if your kids won’t admit it, they will enjoy spending this quality time with you.

The first installment of Be Your Child’s Personal Trainer presented ball exercises. This installment is geared for kids who can’t sit still when they hear music. If your child loves to dance, consider yourself lucky. The motivation to move, normally the biggest challenge, is mainly instigated by the music. Your job is to organize the session into segments that promote physical fitness, play the appropriate music, and dance along, of course!

Suggested age: 5 to 10 years

Warm-up (5 minutes)

1. Let your child choose a favorite song to play during “isolations.” Stand with feet shoulder width apart. Move one body part at a time. Start with your head, then shoulders, rib cage, and hips. Nothing else on the body moves except for the body part being isolated. It’s a good exercise to promote body awareness.
2. This is an old favorite. Use the song “YMCA.” During the verses, stretch the major muscle groups: quads, hamstrings, calves, pecs, and deltoids. During the chorus, use your arms to spell out the letters Y-M-C-A. Lunge side to side and clap to finish the phrase of the chorus.

Cardio (15 minutes)

1. Across the Floor Moves: Clear enough space in the room to travel across the floor. Perform the following moves to the rhythm of the music across the floor and back: funky marches, backwards funky marches, chasse’, step/touch with clap, step/kick, and grapevines. Try combinations like 4 marches followed by 4 twists. Finish this segment by letting your child do freestyle moves across the floor.
2. Party Dances: Turn on the imaginary disco lights and get down! Have fun performing some popular party dances. Some suggestions: “The Cha Cha Slide,” “The Tootsie Roll,” “The Cupid Shuffle,” and “The Boot Scootin’ Boogie.” To keep your child’s heart rate elevated, choose dances you and your child already know. If you have to stop and learn them from watching them on the web, it won’t be a challenging cardio workout.

Strength Training (5 minutes)

1. Break Dancing: Use only your arms and legs to lift your body weight off the floor. No resting on your rear! Go for 30 seconds then rest for 30 seconds. Repeat twice.
2. Ballet Balance: Stand on one leg. Bend the other leg so that your foot touches the knee of the supporting leg. Hold that position for 20 seconds then switch legs. For round two, stand on one leg and extend the other leg straight behind you in arabesque. Hold for 20 seconds then switch sides.

Cool Down Stretch (5 minutes)

1. Let your child choose a favorite song with a slow tempo. Sit on the floor together. Give your child the task of demonstrating a stretch in which you have to attempt to copy. Hold the stretch for 15 seconds. Breathe deeply. Now it’s your turn to teach a stretch. Take turns presenting a stretch for the remainder of the song.

For more song ideas to accompany the dance portion of your training session, check out my column called Tried and True Music for Kids’ Fitness.