As a teen, your goal for fitness is to get active. Children should get 60 minutes of exercise most days of the week. A healthy teenager does not have many restrictions for exercise. Just like adults, you should get a mix of aerobic exercise, strength training and flexibility exercises. Being a teenager is stressful, so exercises for stress relief is a good addition to a your fitness routine too.
Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise is when you use the larger muscle of your body over and over and your use of oxygen increases. Think of aerobic exercise as exercising your heart and lungs. A teen should get 60 minutes of aerobic exercise at least three times per week. Examples of aerobic exercise are running, walking, swimming and biking. Choose aerobic exercises you enjoy so that you will have an easier time getting in your three sessions per week.
Strength Training
As a teen, building stronger muscles should be another important part of your fitness routine. Build them with calisthenics such as pushups, situps and lunges. Or do weight training, using hand weights, barbell weights or weight machines. Resistance bands, kettleballs and stability balls are also helpful in increasing your muscular capacity. Aim for 60 minutes of strength training three times per week, with at least a day of rest between each strength-training workout.
Flexibility
Do not neglect the importance of flexibility in your overall fitness program. Stretching can give you longer, more flexible muscles. Stretching not only improves flexibility, it also can prevent injury. Always do a thorough warmup before stretching. Hold stretches for at least 30 to 60 seconds. Do at least two or even three repetitions of each stretch for the most gain. You should stretch every single day. If you goal is to significantly increase your flexibility for a sport such as martial arts or cheerleading, stretch more than once per day.
Stress Relief
Your teenage years are full of changes, stress and increasing demands on your time. Incorporating a mind/body exercise such as yoga or tai chi is a way to combat the negative effects of stress on your body. Yoga does double duty by increasing flexibility while relaxing your mind and body. Try incorporating two to three sessions of yoga per week into your fitness routine.
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