Whether or not children should be pressured to exercise and attempt to maintain a high standard of health at all is a controversial topic. We think that great habits start early and inducing a healthy lifestyle is the best habit one can carry with them through life.
What is CrossFit and Why is it Difficult For Kids?
CrossFit is a way of life which we encourage you to become a part of. The perfect blend of efficient exercise and safe exercise. A well balanced nutritious diet is also important. If you check out the history of CrossFit, you’ll find out that it was originally designed for adults, but this doesn’t mean that kids can’t get in on the action too.
Available to all, CrossFit uses what is known as functional exercise. This is exercises that will help you in day to day activities, for example; walking the dog or playing active games with friends.
Children can adopt CrossFit however without the right support it may be unlikely that a child will see the long term benefits or even care. Role models involvement is a crucial part of a successful CrossFit experience for a child. This is why CrossFit as a lifestyle and not an occasional system one adheres to sporadically can be challenging to gain. Challenging does not, however, mean that CrossFit is not worth it.
CrossFit Kids Workouts
Can Kids Do CrossFit?
Part of the CrossFit agenda is to be completely inclusive. Absolutely anyone can take up CrossFit and begin improving their quality of life. A healthy diet and regular exercise is a necessity for us all, that should come as no surprise. CrossFit is just one way to do this.
Children can and should do CrossFit to begin improving their skills and health for the future.
3 Ways Kids Can Do CrossFit
There are a number of CrossFit principles that kids can incorporate into their daily life. Here are just a few of the most important ones.
#1: ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL
A lack of motivational support could be the downfall of a child’s CrossFit experience, hence why CrossFit can be a great family bonding tool. As a family, you can all improve your way of life together, always helping each other overcome hurdles.
Setting examples of what your child should want from life is best done by their parents, those we (as children) lookup to the most. Leading by example, as a parent will ensure the child sees this lifestyle as something that must be done. A child may continue or work hard with CrossFit to impress and gain approval from their parents, this is normal and should be encouraged when the support they desire becomes achieved via a positive habit.
Laying this positive foundation towards a healthy lifestyle for a child is crucial for the behavior to be repeated. When ’healthy’ evokes positive family memories, a healthy lifestyle is more likely to be pursued in later life and enjoyed in early life.
Some CrossFit centers run parent and child exercise classes, which involve having fun while becoming more fit. This video shows some of the exercises and activities which take part in these events.
#2: MAKING AND INTRODUCING FRIENDS
Going to sports clubs is an incredible way to make new friends, especially as a child. A shared passion for the sport and willingness to be healthy will instantly guarantee that there is common ground for a strong bond to be made between one another. From these friendships made through CrossFit can come a partner to help and be helped by.
You can remind each other of the diet you ought to be following, introduce each other to new sports and exercises, and give each other a reason other than fitness to continue CrossFit, for the benefit of the friendship.
Children can try to get their friends from school and their neighborhood to join in with their journey too. Starting a new sport or hobby together, using this as part of the conversations they will be having, creating a mutual enjoyment through very positive activities.
Due to the overwhelming influence of smartphones in a child’s life, it has become difficult for some kids to socially interact with new people as they are, quite frankly, not used to it. CrossFit can help with this issue, building a child’s character. Take a look at this video for more information:
#3: CAREER OPTIONS FOR CROSSFIT ATHLETES
We can not underestimate the importance of starting young in terms of becoming a professional athlete at the highest level. The earlier technique is perfected, and high levels of fitness are achieved the better.
Taking training seriously from an early age will drastically improve your chances of representing your country and family in high-level competitive sport.
Potentially one of the highest honors which one can achieve is to be a part of the Olympics, take a look at Brooklyn, the pre-teen fitness sensation’s story.
CrossFit for Kids: Check out this 10 Year Old
Showing us the importance of starting early on whatever your sporting passion may be, Brooklyn looks as if she may be a professional competitor in weightlifting and/or gymnastics very soon.
Dedication will go an incredibly long way to improving your chances of succeeding in sports. Put in the work early and you will see the benefits in the future.
A lack of physical fitness may drastically restrict your ability to take part in weird and wonderful things throughout your life, starting the journey to health early is the best way to ensure you’re never left out of fun activities. We never know when we may need high levels of fitness for a sporadic activity so it is best to be ready.
For The Future
Introducing your child to this incredibly beneficial lifestyle now will be one of the most positive influences you have on your child’s life. Improving their all-round well being and opening many doors for them in terms of work and once in a lifetime opportunities. Despite the potential difficulties initially, it will all become worth it one day and if the rest of their lives.
What is an Example of a Kids CrossFit WOD?
If you’re looking for a Kids CrossFit Workout, here are some that you might want to consider.
Kids WOD #1:
Warm-Up: Mixed Tabata: air squats, db good mornings, sit-ups, box jumps (see our recommendation for a Plyo Box here). Then hold a plank for 1 minute.
Skill: Pistols 5X10
WOD: 5 rounds for time of:
6 pistols
8 kettlebell swings
10 sit-ups
Kids WOD #2:
Warm-Up: Catch-throw-catch: With kids in a horseshoe-shaped line, the coach throws a ball and the athletes catch and throw it back. If the catch is missed, the athlete does 5 burpees and jumps back into the game.
Skill: Sumo deadlift 3X7
WOD: 3 rounds of:
5 sumo deadlifts
lunge 5 m to box
5 squat jumps
backward lunge to start
Is there a CrossFit Kids Specialty Course?
If you’re a CrossFit trainer, you may want to know whether or not there is a specialty course for running classes with children. There are a number of 2-day courses, regularly offered in various places around the world, but mainly in the USA. The result is the official CrossFit Kids certification.
A valid level 1 trainer certification is required to attend the training course, but there are no prerequisites apart from that. The course will count for 14 continuing education units (CEU’s).
The course will define the core concepts of the kids program, ensure fun along with teaching the proper techniques for training kids in CrossFit. Basically, you’ll learn everything you need to know about running CrossFit classes with kids, including suggestions for simple WOD’s that kids can do.
You can find out more here: Kids CrossFit Specialty Course.
CrossFit Kids Games
If you’re a serious CrossFit athlete, you may be training for, or have already competed in a regional, national or worldwide CrossFit Games. They’re a fun competition in which you can test your skills and fitness level.
You may be wondering if there are any CrossFit Kids Games to know about. To the best of our knowledge, this doesn’t exist on a big level. However, check in with some of the local CrossFit boxes in your area to find out if they offer a smaller CrossFit competition of some kind for kids.
Kids CrossFit Shoes
In reality, most kids don’t need a specialized pair of CrossFit shoes, and most companies don’t even really make this product. Instead, start with a supportive, high-quality pair of sneakers that are designed for cross-training. These should work well for most kids who are dong CrossFit.
The exception to this is Reebok. They make smaller sizes of their popular Reebok Nano shoes.
The Takeaway on CrossFit Kids
If your child wants to get started with CrossFit at an early age, there is no reason for them not to do this. However, there are a few things to keep in mind about this.
According to the Mayo Clinic, kids as young as 8 or 9 can start strength training. However, they must be mature enough to follow directions and should employ proper technique. Please note, this isn’t bodybuilding, or powerlifting. This should only be done after the child has reached physical and skeletal maturity, usually in the later teens.
Learn more here: CrossFit vs. Bodybuilding.
The second thing to keep in mind is that the goal should be to keep it fun for kids. This should be the foremost concern, more so than achieving personal bests, or beating records. Play some games, do some activities and challenge kids to climb a rope, or jump onto a box for example. Also ensure that the trainer has completed the CrossFit specialty course for kids as well.
Finally, be sure that kids have the right gear before doing CrossFit. This means a proper pair of athletic shoes with good support that fit them well. They’ll also want a comfortable pair of shorts and a t-shirt.
Have your Say about CrossFit for Kids
What do you think about kids’ CrosssFit classes being offered? A good opportunity, or is safety a concern with this?
Leave a comment below and let us know what you think.
Also be sure to give this article a share on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. It’ll help other fitness enthusiasts, like yourself find this useful resource.
Brian Westen
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Last update on 2019-09-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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