Training
Thursday, September 24, 2015 at 01:41PM So. As I mentioned before, Asher's now working on improving his cardio and strength toward his black belt testing. One of our first steps has been swimming laps. Twice, now, I've taken him to our gym pool and just had him swim laps for 30-45 minutes. We're building our way up and intend to start actual "workouts" next week-ish. With that in mind, does anyone have any experience in this? Any recommendations? (I'll also consult with Noah to see what he did during swim team since I didn't watch most of those practices as they were at the same time as karate, lol.)
For what it's worth, Asher's already very active. He has PE on Mondays (at Options), gymnastics and karate on Tuesdays, swimming now on Wednesdays, karate on Thursdays, karate on Fridays, and sometimes karate on Saturdays. Plus, he's just almost always moving anyhow, lol. (Seriously, the kid doesn't even sit to eat oftentimes.)
I'm actually not concerned much with his physical fitness. But, the black belt testing has presented an opportunity for a relatively short term goal/push that Asher *wants* to take advantage of, so we're trying to work with him and fit this into the schedule. (I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a bit concerned that Asher feels this might help jump-start puberty. We've talked, though, and I'm hoping he understands that all the push-ups in the world aren't going to add much bulk to him at this point. Right?)
Anyhow. Beyond the swimming (and possibly mixing that up with running some of the time), we're going to introduce strength training on the weekends. And I'm working on convincing this most picky of eaters of mine that a change in diet will help also/more. ;)
In any case, we've started! So far, so good! (especially after we added the swim cap after that first time when the goggles got rather tangled in his now longer hair, lol)
Also, if you happen to know of any articles/books/friends that address exercise/training for pre-pubescent boys, please share! I can find plenty of recommendations for teens and men and plenty of advice to just let kids play...but could use advice on what to do with a 13 year old boy who'd like to workout but hasn't hit puberty yet and is on the incredibly small side. ;)
Reader Comments (1)
We have a chart on our fridge with 70 squares. Each square represents 25yards (the length of a standard competition pool). A mile is 1760 yards so my boys are each trying to swim a mile over the course of several weeks. Backstroke and crawlstroke work different muscles so they can choose either when gaining their yards. Dolphin Kicks and/or Breaststroke work different muscles too of course, but my boys can only do those a short distance. Timing how many laps in a 30 minute period and then trying to beat that the next time is helpful. Also how long he does "streamlines" after his start is good for increasing lung capacity. We do laps and lessons and just playtime swimming multiple times a week.
We're thinking about adding gymnastics for Daniel and wean off of swimming for the others as soon as Gordon gets to a longer endurance level...he's close, but can do about 100-150 yards and is then VERY tired out. Of course he only just turned four so I don't want to expect TOO much. :)