Margie Weiss: My name is Margie Weiss and this is Kids Cardio Conditioning. Cardio, as you know, is heart. So, we want to try to work the heart and the way to do that is to move. There are a lot of options here that we’re going to be doing different levels so that you can start with a low level and you can move up to a high level. We are working with some steps here. So, if you have access to steps that’s nice, you can do some of this stuff on the stairs, you can also just build a little box for your child to work on real simple. But steps you can find at almost any sports store and they are really good piece of equipment for children to work with as well as adults.
So we’re going to start step on the floor, beginner, moving up to advanced. As a beginner, all we’re going to do here is go out, out, up, up. So it’s wide and together, wide and together. Generally, these activities that we’re going to do, whether it’s beginner or advanced, you’re going to try to do at least for a minute, but you could technically go up to five or ten minutes on it. If you wanted to make sure that the athlete who is much more fit gets a really good workout, easiest option, what we just did. Little bit harder option, is the jumping jack. Some kids have trouble with this at the beginning, so, you can do it slow.
You can do a tap and a tap, which is a slow or a low impact. Moms, you may want to that one because it doesn’t impact you. That’s what we call a low impact jumping jack, but a high impact jumping jack start with your hands on the hips. That way they don’t have to worry about their arms and just do a straddle and together, a straddle and together. That’s a basic jumping jack. If they want to add the up arms, as they straddle, arms go up, as they come down, arms come down. So, you can start it slow and move it faster. Most people know what a jumping jack is. It’s basic, but it’s a really good cardio exercise and it also involves some coordination which is a good thing for kids too.
Now, let’s put the stuff up on the bench. You can do the same thing. Again, they are only doing it for a few seconds, but you would be doing it for a minute, three minutes, five minutes, whatever your child can handle. So, we’re going to start with that basic one. We are just going to step out and then out and then right back on top. We go out, we go out, up and up. Yeah, it’s wide, wide, together, together and one more; wide, wide and we stop on top. We did it to the right. You need to also do it to left. So, you would step down left side, right side, left side and up. Yeah, so it’s left, right, left and we stop right on top; easiest option, right?
Second option, we’re just going to tap the feet to the sides. So, we tap a foot to the right, we tap a foot to the left. You can add arms if you want because remember anytime you add arms up above the heart, you’re getting more of a cardio workout, raising your metabolism, raising your heart rate. Yeah, then from the top. Now, we’re going for the harder one. The thing you want to watch out for, this step is a little higher than this. So, for a more advanced person, they would have a higher step. There are risers that you can put on them to make it even higher. When you do a jumping jack off of it, the one thing you want to concentrate on is you don’t want the child to step on the edge because you’re going to turn an ankle. So, you tell them, go as wide as you can, so that you’re not going to touch the bench.
If you do get tired, if you are timing it for a minute or two minutes, if they get tired, just hop on top until they regain their coordination because it’s not worth wiping out an ankle to do a cardio exercise. This cardio does the same as this, but it’s a little safer. So, if you need to, so if any of you guys get tired, do a few hops on top, okay. So what they’re going to is jumping jacks, they are just going at their own pace, they are going out and up, out and up. They can use no arms or they can use jumping jack arms, where they go and down; alright. Again, if they get tired, or they feel uncoordinated, they will just hop on top or walk on top for a few, and then start again because that way you begin your coordination fairly fast.
Then in order to cool it down just a little bit, you may want to just walk on top for a few, because the heart rate will come back downer. But again you’ll notice an easy exercise, but it’s something that kids can do in combination. You can do fancy stuff where you can change arms, so that it makes it a little bit more interesting. Lots of things you can do with a basic jumping jack.
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