One hundred fifty years ago, most men, women and children performed tasks each day that taxed the muscles of their trunks in every direction. This led to a balanced upper body, roughly equal strength in the muscles of the front, back and sides of the torso. Good posture was a natural result.
Today kids have bad postures and so many more body ailments because they have lost their core stability. As children's overall fitness has declined, the muscles in their abdomen, upper back, shoulder and lower back have become soft as well. Why have they lost their core stability? A huge part is because of the increased amount of sitting. The average teenager spends around 14 hours a week playing video games. This doesn't include T.V. time or the average 4 hours a day sitting at school.
Here are some tips that you can do to help get over the video game slump with your kids. They are fun and the stability ball is a really great idea that will help with everyone's posture.
Video-game exercise: Games which require motion like the Wii and play station 3 games are better than other video games that require nothing more than sitting on a couch. They have all kinds of games that will have the kids moving their bodies.
Stretch breaks. Micro breaks for children and adults, during which you get up and exercise the muscles opposite to the ones you use while sitting. So stand up from that video game, reach your hands above your head and lean back for short stretches.
Stability balls. Replace comfy chairs with stability balls. Doing so allows children to engage those core muscles, even while they're playing video games. When they are taking in turns with the games there are so many fun exercises that they can do. It really is a great investment for your kid's health.
It's never too late to change bad habits and create new ones as habits are created by repetition. Your mind and body create bigger and stronger connections with each repetition. So sitting tall when playing video games, stretching out the body are simple steps that can be very effective when playing video games.
