Burnaby fitness trainer gives top ten tips for toning teens

Debbie Jessen is a Burnaby fitness trainer and mom of two teen boys. She shares her tips on getting children of all ages into exercise.

1. Make exercise fun: 

• Put on some music and have a "so you think you can dance" contest. 
• Create a fitness circuit (push ups, sit ups, burpees, jumping jacks, etc) and make them do each station for 30 seconds to one minute.
• Find some stairs (or a hill) and see how many times you can go up and down  in a timed period.
• Make a walk into a scavenger hunt.
• Get a couple of pedometers and compare how many steps you take everyday.

2. Make exercise a family affair - put aside some time each day to exercise together. Children—and even teens—are more likely to get involved in activities when their parents participate with them.

3. Try new activities such as indoor rock climbing, yoga, kayaking or stand up paddle board.

4. Book a fitness play date for your children with some of their friends.

• Take them to the local  swimming pool or skating rink
• Take them to a local park with a basketball, soccer ball or frisbee.

5. Check out the drop-in activities schedule at your local recreation centre; they usually have programs for all ages.

6. Limit screen time.

• Try to keep it under two hours per day (TV, computer and personal gaming devices).
• Make them take an activity break every 20 minutes. 
• Schedule timed activity for every minute that they have screen time - for example, 20 minutes of screen time equals 10 minutes of physical activity.

7. Book an appointment to have your teen shown how to properly use the equipment in the weight room. Many gyms allow teens as young as 14 years old to use the weight room.

8. Encourage them to join sports clubs at school.

9. Educate yourself and your children about healthy nutrition by focussing on the lunches they take to school. 

10. Practise what you preach —if you want them to be healthy and fit, lead the way with your own active lifestyle!