Fitness Archives | Little Hero Project

Core strength is so important. Your core muscles are the base of support for your entire body, and play a huge role in everyday activities. When core muscles are strengthened, you also reap the benefits of improving your balance and overall stability, which makes you less likely to injure yourself.

Creating that stable base is super important, especially when you start doing movement. And the thing is, kids don’t naturally have lots of core strength, it’s something you build up as you get older. We also have a few other things to thank: increasingly demanding academics and more interest in sedentary technology.

Here are a few easy exercises that are great for kids to start strengthening their core.

8 Easy Core Exercises for Kids

1. Bridge with head down, butt up – 5 slow reps
This is a great warm up for the core, tighten the glutes and tummy when lifting up with the legs.

2. Boat to Canoe – 10 reps
Modification is to keep your hands on the ground next to your hips. Try to keep toes off the ground. Bent knees in the boat pose, then straighten your legs while keeping your feet off the ground for canoe.

3. Russian Twists – 20 reps
Keep toes off ground, touch hand on each side of hips.

4. Basic Plank – hold for count of 20, 3 reps
Tighten tummy, push the ground away, with your shoulders. Make sure butt is not sticking up and body is in a straight line. This pose takes some practice for the little ones to get properly. I’ve found that giving them a spot to look just ahead of their hands helps with alignment.

5. Elbow Plank to Dolphin – 10 reps
Starting in elbow plank, push your hips back into the sky, forehead to the ground, then back to elbow plank.

6. Plank to Elbow Plank – 10 reps
Right hand to elbow, left hand to elbow. Then right elbow to hand, left elbow to hand. Repeat with left hand going first.

7. Superman – 5 reps
Starting on your belly, lift your chest and legs off the ground and hold for a count to 10. Relax and repeat.

Modification – superman with arms back. I like to call this one: flying mermaid

8. Cobra Pose
Stretch after doing these core exercises.

Choosing a Martial Arts School for your Child

It’s no secret that martial arts classes for kids are insanely popular. Especially out in the ‘burbs where we live, there seems to be at least one martial arts school in every other shopping center.

Who wouldn’t want to raise a little ninja, right?

Plus, the benefits of a martial arts program are endless. Kids will learn important life lessons that they will carry with them into adulthood. From building confidence to learning respect for yourself and others to developing self-reliance – there’s no team in martial arts, you need to depend on yourself.

The reason Marvel got started in her martial arts classes was due to my encouragement. I had something to do with it (a lot to do with it).

I love kickboxing and boxing, so naturally, I have a circle of friends who are really into it too. Once my girls saw us being bad asses on the heavy bag, they wanted to try it out too.

We went through a couple schools before we found “the one.” Here’s what I learned through my experience:

Choosing the right martial arts school for your child is difficult. What do you look for?

Do your research on the type of martial arts and narrow down to which discipline(s) to take a closer look at. The most popular ones with children’s programs tend to be karate, taekwondo, and jiu jitsu.
Test out at least 2-3 schools before committing to one.
Observe how the instructors interact with the students. Are they firm, yet engaging?
What is the instructor to student ratio? Some schools have 10 students per instructor… I prefer at most 4-5 students per instructor.
Ask: how quickly do students move up in belts? Are yo ujust paying for a new belt color or is the student actually learning the skills?