Exercise for Teen Girls

Many teen girls fall into a routine of waking up early, going to school, doing hours of homework and watching television before bed. Unfortunately, most of these activities don't involve getting in much-needed exercise. You don't have to be an athletic girl to improve your physical fitness. Even doing a few exercises per day can help reduce your stress levels, improve your appearance and boost your energy to get through your busy day.

Daily Exercise Recommendations

Teens should be getting at least 60 daily minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking or vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise, including running, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Teens should also do muscle strengthening activities at least three days per week as part of the 60 daily exercise minutes. Fortunately, you don't need to do all 60 minutes at once. If necessary, break up your exercise into small sessions of 10 minutes or more.

Aerobic Exercises

Doing aerobic exercises will help strengthen your heart and improve its ability to send oxygen throughout your body. Any activity that causes your heart and breathing to speed up is an aerobic activity. You may already be getting in aerobic exercise every day if you take a dance class or play a school team sport, such as water polo or soccer. If you don't already have a heart-pumping hobby, you don't necessarily need to run on a treadmill at the gym. Try biking to school, playing tennis with a friend, rollerblading around the block or speed walking around your local mall.

Muscle Strengthening Exercises

Doing muscle strengthening exercises doesn't mean your muscles will inflate to look "manly." Strengthening your muscles will give you a trim and toned look, give you more endurance to do daily activities, help support your joints and reduce your risk of physical injuries, according to the Nemours Foundation. You may already be doing muscle-strengthening activities without realizing it. Exercises that can help strengthen your arms are push-ups, pull-ups and activities such as rowing; exercises that strengthen your legs include biking, skating and squats; exercises that help tone your stomach muscles include yoga poses and Pilates.

Warming Up And Cooling Down

Beginning aerobic workouts without preparing your body for the physical exertion may lead to problems such as muscle strains and injuries, according to MayoClinic.com. Warming up and cooling down will help your body adapt to the demands of exercise. Find a warmup activity that requires you to use the same muscles that you will use during your workout. For example, you might go for a walk for five minutes before a 30-minute jog. Your cooldown activity should be similar to your warm-up activity; slow your pace down for five minutes after you are finished with your jog.

Safety Tips

You should be able to build up the strength and stamina to do just about any exercise if you are in good health and don't have any physical restrictions. However, talk to your doctor about adapting your physical activity if you have a health condition or a disability. Regardless of your health or physical ability, keep in tune with your body as you exercise. You may feel physical challenges as you exercise, but you should never feel as though you are injuring yourself, according to the Center for Young Women's Health. Stop exercising if you get dizzy, have trouble breathing or feel any pain.