Exercise Routines for Boys

Exercise is a key ingredient to help children maintain a healthy body. An active lifestyle for boys promotes a faster metabolism, improves sleeping habits, and ensures proper growth and muscle mass. One of the key elements to include in exercise routines for boys is to make the exercises fun. Here are some exercise routines for boys.

Stretching and Warming Up
Make sure to stretch for 5 to 10 minutes prior to starting a workout. Stretching helps with flexibility and helps loosen young muscles before beginning an exercise routine. Start with simple toe touches and hold the stretch for 15 seconds. Sit on the floor, spread your legs and extend the left arm to the left toe. Hold the stretch for 15 seconds. Alternate to the right side. Tuck the right leg inside, and with the left leg still extended, stretch your arm to your left toe. Hold for 15 seconds. Tuck your left leg and extend with your right arm out to your right toe. Hold the stretch 15 seconds. Put your feet together, and reach out to touch your toes with both arms. Hold the stretch for 15 seconds. It's important to remember not to bounce when stretching. Now that you've stretched your muscles really well, you can begin a short cardiovascular routine.

Cardiovascular Routines
Boys ages 7 to 14 can complete an exercise routine anywhere from 2 to 4 days a week. The younger the boy, the shorter the exercise routine should be. The exercise routine can increase in duration and frequency with increased exercise tolerance and age. Start with 25 jumping jacks. Again, you can have your child do more or less based on age and fitness level. Jumping jacks get the blood flowing and work lower and upper muscles. Arm circles are great for building natural muscle in the arms. If possible include jogging and short sprints. Sprinting in particular helps boys build up fast twitch muscle in the legs. Swimming is another good cardiovascular exercise for boys. Swimming works leg, arm and abdomen muscles.

Resistance Training for Boys
Avoid weight training routines for boys until age 14 or older. There are plenty of strength-building exercises for boys that can be included in the routine that build muscle without using free weights. Remember boys are still growing. You don't want to put the stress of heavy weight training on a growing frame. With that in mind, push-ups and chin-ups are a great way to increase muscle in boys. As tolerance increases, you can increase the repetitions and number of sets. With push-ups, you can challenge boys by having them do diamond push-ups, wide-arm push-ups and standard push-ups. Start with standard push-ups, but as boys progress in age and strength, challenge them with the above variations. Sit-ups are great for building stomach muscles. Leg lifts, squats and leg extensions can be added to exercise routines for boys. Remember that boys should take a day or two off in between exercise routines to allow growing muscles to recover.