Fitness is worth the whole family

August 8th this year is the 15th National Fitness Day in my country. In 2009, in order to commemorate the successful hosting of the Beijing Olympic Games, the State Council approved August 8th of each year as National Fitness Day. This is necessary to promote China's goal of moving from a sports power to a sports power, to meet the people's growing demand for physical fitness, and to promote the all-round development of people. I hope that every family can participate in sports and fitness activities happily and healthily in their own way.

Psychological damage can hinder fitness

Liu Genghong, a famous fitness coach, has trained many young people. He found that they need more than just athletic ability, they also need encouragement from coaches. In his book "Training for Freedom", he wrote: "Many people don't like sports, not because of sports itself, but because of other psychological injuries, such as bad childhood experiences, pressure from parents or work, etc., so they will choose some unhealthy ways to adjust their mood or hide their distress." Therefore, for parents, it is necessary to listen to the true thoughts of their children in order to help them change from heart to body.

When it comes to their children's sports, parents often have three bad ways: suppress, ridicule, and deny. Some parents have good exercise habits themselves, and will say to their children: "I can do it, why can't I? Others can do it, why can't you?" Some parents don't like sports themselves, but have high expectations for their children, and simply and crudely label their children: "I think you are lazy, you have no perseverance, and you are self-degrading." In the long run, children will use negative confrontation methods such as avoidance and procrastination to resist the spiritual harm caused by their parents.

Encouragement is the driving force for progress. Parents should not compare or suppress their children, but help them find a suitable way to exercise and strengthen their fitness habits through constant affirmation. At the same time, parents should also help their children find a suitable fitness coach. If they encounter a coach who constantly denies, suppresses or even physically punishes their children, they must resolutely change him. Not long ago, there was a news report about an extreme case of a child being beaten to death by a coach in a martial arts school. This warns parents to change some inherent concepts, such as letting their children exercise as harshly as possible.

Relieve the psychological stress of exercise

When children are not so confident in their fitness exercises, they will feel anxious, nervous and avoid it. In this regard, Li Li, deputy director of the Obesity Prevention and Control Branch of the Chinese Student Nutrition and Health Promotion Association, proposed a three-minute attention exercise and two exercise options to relieve stress.

Three-minute attention exercise: In the first minute, imagine the scene you are most afraid of and most anxious about, and fully experience this nervous and uneasy feeling; in the second minute, imagine yourself in nature and get close to nature; in the third minute, focus on the feeling of anxiety again, and your body will gradually relax and your emotions will relax. This meditation-like relaxation method can indirectly vent and release emotions by focusing your scattered thoughts on a single focus, and it is also applicable to other tense environments.

Parents should help their children find the inner motivation to keep exercising. If they only follow external rules and passively insist on exercising, fitness will lead to continuous anxiety and pain. Children must experience the joy of stimulating their inner potential and form positive feedback. The so-called positive feedback means that every effort can meet their psychological expectations, and they can release stress and feel happy after exercise, or get encouragement and praise from people around them and see changes in themselves. Only in this way can they fall in love with fitness and enjoy fitness.

Choose the right exercise

There are two principles for choosing sports. First, do sports that require high concentration. For example, playing basketball can relieve stress better than running. Because when running, although the legs are moving, the brain can think about other things and cannot fully concentrate, so it is impossible to completely relax after exercise. Second, choose a type of sports that you rarely practice. New things can arouse people's interest. Human sports include walking, running, jumping, throwing, climbing, climbing, and climbing. In addition to the common brisk walking and running, skipping rope, trampoline, shooting, rock climbing, and crawling are all worth trying. When doing family fitness, adults can jump on the trampoline with their children, or crawl on the ground like animals. Similar changes to our familiar ways of exercise can also bring a sense of novelty and accomplishment.

Another example is street dance, boxing, indoor rock climbing, or traditional sports such as martial arts, shuttlecock kicking, and lion dancing, which are very popular among young people. As long as you keep trying, you will be able to experience the pleasure brought by the secretion of dopamine.

The process of exercising with children is not only about physical changes, but more importantly, about mutual understanding and tolerance between parents and children. Therefore, let us listen to the inner needs of children, understand the physical and mental characteristics of different people, change our lifestyle together, learn relevant scientific knowledge, gain health through fitness, achieve freedom through self-discipline, and finally achieve control over our own bodies and lives.

(The author is a popular science writer and a gold medal reading promoter)