I had some exciting news this week – a CrossFit Kids course has come to Europe! At long last – months and months of waiting for the course to come vaguley my direction and I’m off to Varese in Italy. Not one to usually shy away from a challenge this has somewhat caused my nerves to shake.
My level 1 CrossFit Course took me to Glasgow and London, which was fine as I have very good friends and a brother in these great cities. So despite doing the course in a new venue and with new people, at least they all spoke english (if you can call the Glaswegian accent that!) and I was familiar with each city. This on the other hand is in Italy, I do not speak Italian and I have never been to Varese.
Despite my misgivings there is one major plus I am only 30mins from Milan! I have never been and I am a huge fashion junkie – I used to work for London Fashion Week back in the hay days and its always been on my hit list to see and now I get to kill two birds with one stone. Also I have persuaded my husband to come and we are adding on a day either side of the course. I believe Varese is very picturesque and situated near one of the Italian lakes – sitting having coffee, reading, no kids (slightly ironic given the course) with beautiful views will be bellisimo!
Why have I set my sights on CrossFit Kids what makes it different to any other sport for kids?
Well I believe that CrossFit Kids prepares young people for life.The strength and conditioning program, which is centered on performing a series of random, functional exercises at high intensity, teaches children, as well as adults 10 general physical skills they’ll use each and every day. It is also specifically designed to help kids and teenagers develop a lifelong love of fitness.
1.Coordination Children develop coordination by learning to perform several distinct movement patterns into a singular distinct exercise. For example, when doing a pushup, a child must balance on hands, tighten abdominal muscles, maintain a rigid core, bend elbows, lower body, and push back up – all without falling to the floor.
2. Agility Requiring balance, coordination, reflexes, speed and strength, agility gives kids the ability to transition quickly from one movement pattern to another. Obstacle courses, for instance, which are typically incorporated into the CrossFit Kids’ program, train young people to use explosive strength, nimble movements and rapid directional changes.
3. Balance. This is one of the critical skills children develop through the CrossFit Kids program. By learning how to stabilize their midline while performing a range of movements, like gymnastics drills and pushups, kids’ form, posture, carriage and overall strength improve.
4. Accuracy. This teaches children how to fine tune their muscles and nervous systems, and exercise their eye-hand – or eye-body – coordination by building on their ability to perform functional movements quickly such as obstacle courses and gymnastics moves.
5. Cardiovascular/respiratory endurance. This central tenant of CrossFit Kids is practiced via high-intensity workouts, like rowing, running, sprinting and skipping.
6. Stamina. As the kids’ stamina improves, they’ll be able to exert themselves more and more – and reap the benefits of improved metabolism, oxygen flow and recovery time.
7. Strength. CrossFit Kids helps young people build strength and biomotor skills through weight lifts, like a deadlift and shoulder press, as well as medicine ball throws and handstand pushups.
8. Speed. Speed, as a general skill, helps kids improve their overall performance – whether during a CrossFit workout or a game of Dodgeball.
9. Power. CrossFit Kids uses power in moves like squats, which involves quickly moving their own bodyweight up and down in a controlled way.
10. Flexibility. An often-neglected aspect of fitness, flexibility refers to a child’s ability to effectively bend and move without injury. Flexibility increases when kids are able to boost their range of motion and improve their bone, ligament and joint stability. Some exercises that build flexibility include the bear crawl and other animal movements.
Just like the adults programme, each child has his or her own specific needs and CrossFit Kids coaches can adjust the individual workouts as needed, scaling them to ensure the child succeeds – yet is still challenged and growing.
But the most important feature of CrossFit Kids: It’s fun
Just waiting on my approval from CrossFit’s vetting programme to allow me to work with children and then I will be able to have my place on the course – I can’t wait!
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