Exercise for Teens

If you're a teenager, you may be confused about how to exercise to get stronger, stay healthy or, for to, lose or gain weight. The good news is, there are no right way to work out and no perfect exercise that you have to do to be fit. While that's true, it helps to learn about the different ways you can exercise so you can have fun, reach your goals, and avoid injuring yourself.

Exercise Do’s:

The great thing about exercise for teens is that just about any activity that gets you moving will work.

Vigorous Aerobic Exercise- This includes sports like football, tennis, soccer, volleyball, and basketball. It also includes brisk walking, running, cycling, swimming, or even chasing an annoying sibling.

Muscle Strengthening- It can involve unstructured activities like using playground equipment or climbing trees. It can also include structured strength workouts with exercises like squats, pushups or crunches using weights, machines, or your own body weight.

Regular Activity- This can include active games (like Wii or Dance  Revolution), taking walks, wrestling with your friends or tossing a ball in the backyard. This is something you can do every day.

Exercise Don’ts:

Power Lifting- This type of training isn't recommended for teens because it's difficult to use good form and the body may be stressed too abruptly, causing injury.

Excessive Exercise- Exercising too much can also lead to injuries, overtraining and, for girls, a change in menstrual cycles that could lead to bone loss.

Expect Unrealistic Results- It's fine to have goals to improve your body, we can't always control what we can change. If you want bigger muscles, be patient, as that's something that happens after puberty, although you can always build strength at any age.

Tips for Getting More Exercise

• Walk, bike, or skate to and from school, if that's an option.
• Ask your parents if you can go to the gym with them or if there's a local community center where you can exercise.
• Check your cable network to see if you have Exercise TV, a channel that offers free workouts any time you like.
• If you hang out at the mall or local shopping center, walk around rather than staying in one spot or eating junk at the food court.
• Create a new routine where you walk, line skate, or run every day when you get home from school or before dinner. If you don't want to exercise outside by yourself, ask your friends or a family member to go with you or use an exercise video in your own bedroom.
• Do some chores. Raking leaves or sweeping the driveway can actually burn calories while making your parents happy.
• Take the dog for a long walk.

Remember that any activity that gets you moving will work, so start with something you like and focus on having fun.