Fitness guru Sam Wood shares his best tips for keeping kids active during COVID-19 lockdown
Fitness guru and father of three Sam Wood says the best way to keep kids fit throughout the COVID-19 lockdown is to make working out fun. Here are his best exercise tips.
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Fitness guru and father of three Sam Wood is urging parents to make their at home exercise routines a family activity.
Wood, who runs the popular 28 By Sam Wood online program, said the trick to incorporating children of any age into a workout was to make it entertaining, not a chore.
“The key is to make it fun,” Wood said.
“Kids love to work out with mum and dad and they love games where they don’t even feel like they are moving.
“In two of our kids’ workouts, we have had a novelty dice you roll, a spinning wheel and some novelty oversized playing cards.
“Each number, spot on the wheel or card corresponds with a different fun and appropriate movement to do with your kids.
“Movements include frog jumps, mountain climbers or boxing.
“Get creative, turn exercise into a game, do it with them, pump up their favourite music and make it fun and you can’t go wrong.”
He suggests dancing as an effective way to get young children engaged and warmed up for a
family workout.
“These workouts are not kids’ workouts, they are family workouts,” Wood, who is also the Better Homes and Gardens health expert, said.
“In other words, be a ‘do as I do’ not a ‘do as I say’ parent.
“It’s about setting a good example for your kids. We should move every day at least for half an hour, so while we are in lockdown let’s move our bodies in our home, get the kids involved, sweat together, laugh together and have some fun.”
Wood and his wife Snezana have three daughters – Eve, 14, Willow, two, and Charlie, eight months – and he has been practising what he preaches.
He has been providing free daily workout classes through his 28 By Sam Wood Facebook channel.
So far, he has hosted three sessions which are specifically for children and have generated enormous feedback. They will now include two workouts for kids each week.
“The response has been incredible,” Wood said.
“It has been great to see parents working out with their children, laughing, having fun and staying active.
“Over 100,000 Australians joined me (for one online work out) and it’s growing every day. I am going to do these for as long as it takes.”
Wood says staying active and having fun as a family is important for physical and mental health during this time of shutdown amid the COVID-19 crisis.
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“Anything that gets your kids active, laughing and away from a screen can only be a good thing,” Wood said.
“Tug of war, treasure hunts, good old fashioned hide and seek, or even a quick game of tag around the back yard.
“Just use your imagination. It’s not rocket science that physically active parents have a greater likelihood of their kids being active as well.
“It’s also a no-brainer active kids are more likely to become active adults. Kids are sponges.
“They see what you do and they will model that behaviour.”
Wood said parents of toddlers should not be afraid to carefully involve them in workouts, noting lifting and holding a little one could easily be incorporated into exercises such as High 5 Planks, baby hold squats, hallway sled pushes with your child in a large basket to push, and a hallway walking lunge to add resistance.
Workouts with kids did not have to be perfect, but rather entertaining.
“It is a great bonding experience,’’ Wood said.