Exercise Tips for Teens

By engaging in regular exercise, potentially lazy teens can use their youthful energy to keep themselves fit. If you would like to see your couch-loving teen up and moving more, consider some ways in which you can help her maximize her exercise results and make the task of exercising a little less distasteful for your notorious physical-activity avoider.

Journal Exercise Efforts

Your teen may be more motivated to keep up his current exercise regimen if he writes down an account of his effort. Encourage your teen to keep a journal in which he records his daily exercise by buying him a journal with a sports theme, or one that bears an image in some way related to exercise, such as a picture of a biker or an individual jogging. When you give the journal to your novice exerciser, ask him to write down the physical activity that he completes each day so that he can better keep track of his efforts. Do not use the journal as a tool for you to check up on his efforts, because if you attempt to do this you will likely just make him feel that he is being watched and increase the likelihood that he begins lying in his exercise journal.

Start with Sports

Sports are naturally engaging for teens. Instead of focusing on solitary, and potentially boring, exercises such as the treadmill or stair-climber, enroll your teen in an organized sporting activity. Allow your teen to play a part in selecting the sport that she would like to play so that she is more invested in the activity. If your teen is hesitant to join a school sporting activity for fear of teasing, find an out-of-school activity for her to participate in.

Try Some Dog-Walking

Get your teen walking with a purpose by assigning her the task of walking the family dog. Ask your teen to play a part in dog care by taking Fido on a daily stroll. Because walking of this nature is purposeful, your teen may be more likely to stick with the walking.

Buddy up for Motivation

If your teen tries to go it alone, he will likely tire of exercise long before he sees the effects of his efforts. Encourage your teen to join with a buddy and become exercise pals, checking each other’s progress and encouraging each other to keep it up. If your teen lacks a friend who wants to participate in this self-improvement effort, volunteer your services and engage in exercise with your teen, leading to not only an improvement in his fitness level, but also your own.

Integrate Electronics

For many teens, video games provide an enticement to stay firmly planted on the sofa. Through the modification of the type of video game your child prefers, you can make these electronic amusements have the opposite effect. Replace your child’s current video game system with one that requires movement. An increasing number of video game systems respond to players’ movements instead of simply button pushes, making the task of playing video games more physically advantageous for your electronics-savvy teen.