Childrens fitness

[Mauro]

Does anyone really know anything about childrens fitness??
My daughter , 7 is training for a race. It's only a one miler and she ran 1.1 miles today and followed it up with a 1.1 mile bike ride. She wants to win but I don't want to push her to hard or train her like I do one of my fighters.
The race is in a month. Should she top out at 3 miles a week before the race and scale down??
real advice please.

 

[Pennglock]

I would just try to keep things fun and kind unrecognizable as "training."

 

[SField]

Originally Posted by Mauro

Does anyone really know anything about childrens fitness??
My daughter , 7 is training for a race. It's only a one miler and she ran 1.1 miles today and followed it up with a 1.1 mile bike ride. She wants to win but I don't want to push her to hard or train her like I do one of my fighters.
The race is in a month. Should she top out at 3 miles a week before the race and scale down??
real advice please.

At that age I don't think I'd do too much training. Just make sure her activity level is pretty high and I'm sure she'll do fine.

7 is awfully young to start training for long distance running, especially with how much we know it does to people later in life.

 

[MetroStyles]

When I was a kid fitness meant playing outside from morning to sundown. I don't know what kids do these days.

-baseball
-basketball
-football
-soccer
-monkey in the middle
-spud
-dodgeball
-super soakers
-pickle
-biking

That kept me in good shape as a kid.

 

[Dewey]

I was a runner in my teens. I have no advice about training, but I do regret that I never had a coach talk to me about form. I was a pretty heavy heel clomper. Busted ****** training but was never top tier. Probably would have done better had I learned to run more on the ball of my foot.

Also, I'm pretty sure I wore the wrong shoes for most of the time.

So, if my kid was a runner, I'd look into form and shoe fit.

Now what about soccer. My six year old has turned into a soccer nut. Any former soccer players have any advice for me?

 

[BDC2823]

I'm with the other guys Mauro and just let her have fun. At that age it's great to see her taking a real interest to something and especially something that is good for her and her health. I'd think the most important thing is to just be supportive of her and offer her encouragement. Take her to the park or somewhere else outdoors and go running with her for a bit. I'd just make sure not to push her too hard to the point where she loses interest.

Dewey, the only advice I have is to just let your kid play. At that age it's just running around chasing the ball anyways. Kick the ball around with her and have her do some dribbling and shooting drills. I stopped playing soccer when I was young as I moved heavily into baseball, but I wish I would have kept playing soccer as well.

 

[Mauro]

It was her idea to race. It's for her school. In her bracket it K-2 grades. The race is only one mile.
She ran 1.1 miles today and biked the same course back to back. She really wants to win and I told her I would train her. The prize is a turkey and she wants the damn turkey. I told if she trains hard she could win. I just want to give her could support and training. If she wins awesome if not at least she trained and knows what it's like to go for something.

I was really looking for training tips. I do want her to have fun and enjoy exercise. She already train thai boxing and BJJ with me.

 

[milosz]

I'd focus on form rather than on any particular sprint/distance drills) - breathing, balls of the feet (as mentioned) and whatever info you can pick up from reading about youth running (cross country, etc. - I'm sure there are some online resources), etc..

That way you're setting up good habits and 'training' her, without being a taskmaster as you would with an adult.

 

[Dewey]

Mauro, for a K-2 race I can't believe there's much you can do in terms of training.

There probably are some things you can do in terms of preparation. Keep her healthy. Don't wear her out the day before. Feed her well the day before. Get her to bed early. Feed her Cocoa Krispies an hour or two before the race. Make sure she goes to the bathroom -- when kids get nervous, they often have to pee, and that ***** up their concentration. Also sucks to run when you're constipated. Give her a big Mountain Dew right before the race.

Remind her that if she is the best runner in the group, she may only have a 50% chance of running. Emphasize making opportunities to win is the way to win a lot. That way if she's smoked by some Lance Armstrong Jr. you can tell her she did great and will surely win a lot of races if she keeps racing.

 

[BDC2823]

Well perhaps you need to get her some training shoes. May I recommend something like...

or

 

[Scrumhalf]

My son just started running X-C this year. He is 10, a little older than your daughter. He is running with an athletic club affiliated with Nike here in Beaverton. They have 3 training sessions a week, two where they run 2-3 miles and follow it up with a bunch of conditioning drills and one session which is trail running in a local hilly park.

I would just go for a couple of runs with her every week. Make it fun, i.e. not on a track or anything but on a trail. Throw in fartleks like a game - for example, "let's race to that tree!"... she'll get her conditioning up in no time.

Oh yeah... get her fitted for some good shoes. The standard Target or Stride Rite varieties may not cut it if she is going to run regularly. I've found that good kids shoes run in the 50-ish range.

 

[Mauro]

^^ thanks guys. I was kinda thinking those ideas as well. I will get her really good shoes

I wonder if New Balance or someone makes shoes in a "fall camo" print.

 

[yerfdog]

My dad used to run with me and my brother when I was about that age. If she has obvious problems with running form that would be good to mention, but if you get too into form before she is really into running, that might just frustrate her (speaking from experience).

Other than that, if you can keep her motivated to keep practicing regularly that would be good. Of course, the motivation has to come from her, because otherwise it will seem like a chore (I used to hate getting dragged out of bed on Saturdays to go do our 1 mile run at the school).

I'm not a runner now, but I might not just increase distances to 3 miles. If you can get up to doing 3 miles, that's good for general running ability, but it might not help much for pacing. I had a lot of trouble with pacing when I was a kid.

One of the things to emphasize is to try to keep a pretty steady pace until the end (untrained kids seem to start out way too fast, and in a race they can fool you into thinking you also need to go faster even though they are going to get tired and slow way down after 300 yards). I would maybe recommend throwing a few regular 1 mile workouts even as you increase the distance of most workouts, or maybe try to segment out a 1 mile portion in a longer, slower jog.

 

[Mauro]

^^ thank you. I agree. She always wants to bolt out of the gate, lol

 

[SField]

Originally Posted by Mauro

^^ thank you. I agree. She always wants to bolt out of the gate, lol

You should, above all, read up on running technique (maybe you already know a lot). Make sure she strikes the ground well, and knows racing technique, as far as how to pace herself and to strategize/priorities in a race.

I think it's really cool you do muay thai and bjj with your kid.