Does Exercise Help With Studying?

As a Dutch review of previous studies suggests, being physically active can have a positive effect on the child’s academic performance. The review examined 14 studies which include more than 12,000 children. According to those studies, engaging in physical exercise may help increase blood and oxygen flow to the brain, boosting the cognitive function of the children.

Writing in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, researchers stated that they discovered strong evidence of a relation between physical activity and academic performance.

However, according to VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, the authors of the said research, they stated that more accurate and reliable measurement instruments were required to examine the link in greater detail.

Dr. Amika Singh and colleagues were triggered to observe the connection between exercise and the child’s performance in the classroom due to concerns that the pressure to improve the grades and performance of the students could result into more time being spent in the classroom and very limited time to perform physical exercise.

So the authors identified ten observational and four interventional studies for review. Twelve of the mentioned studies were done in the U.S., one in Canada and one in South Africa. The sample sizes of the studies varied between fifty-three to twelve thousand subjects between the ages of six to eighteen years old, the period of follow-up ranges from eight weeks to more than five years.

As the study suggests, two of the reviewed researches were evaluated as being of high quality.

Blood flow

According to the researchers, they noticed a clear proof of a “significant positive relationship” between exercise and academic performance using those two studies as evidences.

The study suggests that the reason behind it is that exercise is responsible for increasing the blood and oxygen flow to the brain. The improvement in the blood and oxygen flow positively affects the cognitive functions of the brain. However, according to the researchers, more studies were needed to investigate the exact connection between physical activity and academic performance.

Participating in any kind of physical activity also helps in stress management, mood regulation, and it can also alleviate anxiety, helping children behave better in the classroom.

According to Dr Singh, “children who learn to participate in sport also learn to obey rules. This may mean they are more disciplined and able to concentrate better during lessons.”

“People always ask, ‘How much exercise do I need to do to get an A?’ We don’t know that, but we would like to find out,” said Dr. Singh. “Children should be active for at least one hour a day, for health reasons. But we also need to look at other things, like what kind of activities they should do, when they should do them and for how long.”

None of the studies used an objective measure of physical activity. Most of the studies instructed the subjects or their parents to write down how much physical activity they were getting.

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Physical Activity Guidelines For Young Children

To maintain a healthy and physically-fit body, young people should get enough exercise everyday. It is important for them to meet the exercise guidelines that are appropriate for their age level to keep their physical fitness at the optimal level.

For young children aged five years old and above, it is important to get at least an hour of exercise each day to keep their bodies active, healthy, and physically fit. The exercises a young child should perform must be comprised of moderate and vigorous physical activities. At least thrice a week, these exercises must focus on strengthening the muscles and the bones of these young children.

Normally, in the current generation of youth, most young children are spending too much of their time in front of their screens (smartphones, TVs and personal computers), which eats away all of their free time, leaving barely enough time to do any physical activity.

This kind of habit can be pretty damaging to your child’s health, so you should ensure that your child is not allocating most of their precious time doing such things. It is your task, as a parent, to limit the time they spend in front of their screens. 

You should also start to encourage your child to engage in physical activities such as jogging and sports. You should convince them that these kinds of activities are more fun than sitting in front of the computer screen all day, and you should also tell them some of the benefits they can get from doing such things, so they can be more motivated to start doing it.

Kids at a young age basically won’t do an activity he/she doesn’t enjoy, so you need to make sure that you choose the kind of physical activity he/she will truly enjoy so that your child will be able to willingly do these activities. 

For example, if your child shows enthusiasm to be more active when surrounded with friends, then you should consider letting him/her join a team-oriented sport such as basketball, football and hockey. However, if your child enjoys doing splits and performing tumblings, then gymnastics might be the best sports choice for her.

If your child doesn’t want to join any sports, but is still willing to be physically active, then you should encourage him/her to do any kind of moderate to vigorous physical activities.

What is Considered as a Moderate Activity?

Moderate physical activities are those activities that can be done with only a moderate amount of effort. These activities are known to raise your heart rate levels and make you break a sweat. One way to tell if you’re performing a moderate physical activity is when your breathing still enables you to talk, but you’re unable to sing a song properly without losing a breath.

Moderate activities include: walking to the school, playing outside with their friends, riding a bicycle, and doing simple household chores.

What is Considered as a Vigorous Activity?

Vigorous physical activities require a great amount of effort, and usually make the child push their physical capabilities to the limits. You know you are performing a vigorous physical activity if you can barely talk without having to pause to catch a breath. 

Despite requiring more effort, vigorous physical activities are known to provide better health benefits compared to what a moderate activity could bring. Vigorous physical activities are linked to better overall health, stronger and healthier bones, better physical fitness and higher levels of self-esteem.

Some examples of vigorous activities are: dancing, swimming, running and playing intense sports.

Learn more about physical fitness and expand your knowledge regarding your child’s health by reading our educational articles. Let your child learn gymnastics in the most fun and exciting way, enroll today at Bianka Panova Sport and Art Academy! :) Join us in the fun and learn gymnastics for kids :)

Motivating Your Child To Be Physically Active

Compared to how they were a decade ago, kids these days are starting to get less and less active. With the presence of a lot of entertaining video games, movies, TV shows and the likes, children have become less likely to leave their houses and would rather stay inside than to go out and play with their friends.

Because of that, most of the kids nowadays are struggling to get enough daily activity. Aside from the fact that the increasing demands of school takes up most of their precious time, other things that captures their attention, such as the internet and video games saps up their time and energy, leaving them with no time and energy left for a physical activity.

Despite of these barriers, parents can still do something to encourage their child to engage in a physical fitness activity. We will discuss those things in this article :)

Benefits of Being Active

First of all, we will talk about why is it important for your child to participate in physical activities. Most of us already know that participating in physical activities, whether it is a simple act of jogging or a more intense sports, can provide numerous health benefits to children. Some of the benefits they can get through exercise are:

· Stronger muscles and healthier and denser bones

· Weight Loss / Weight Gain

· Increased Self-Esteem

· Increased Physical Fitness

· Better Mental Clarity

· Better Overall Health

Also, it is proven that physically active children are more likely to perform better in school and become more successful later in life. These kids also possess essential social skills such as leadership and being a good team player.

How Can I Encourage My Child To Do Physical Activity?

There’s a lot of things a child can get from doing a regular physical activity, but how can you actually encourage your kids to get physically active? 

Give Your Child The Opportunity to be Active

Give your child the resources he/she needs, whether it is a place or an equipment, so he/she can start to be physically active. Take your child to a place where he/she can get physically active, such as the playground, gym, or a sports school. Also, you could provide him/her with equipment such as a bicycle or a basketball so he/she can start on the road to fitness.

Make It Fun

Kids won’t do something he/she doesn’t find interesting. That might be one of the reasons why more and more children prefer to play video games than to play outside. 

To encourage them to engage in a physical activity, you should make sure this is something that will capture their interest. Know what activities your child will enjoy. Is your child a good swimmer? Then consider going to the beach with your family. Is your child good at dancing? Then sign him/her up to a dance class.

When a child enjoys what he/she is doing, they are more likely to do more of it. That is why you should always pay attention to the things that can trigger their interest, in order to keep them motivated on being physically active.

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Importance of Rest in Gymnastics

In order to improve your athletic performance and fitness levels to the extremes, it is critically important to train hard. However, training hard doesn’t mean that you should disregard proper rest and recovery.

Physical activity and exercise is not just a bodily activity, but it also affects the brain, which is partly why it’s essential to consider having proper rest and recovery after performing any form of physical activity.

The importance of being and staying physically active has often been emphasized in our day-to-day lives, and though the significance of exercise in staying healthy is unquestionable, the importance of rest and recovery must also be considered.

An individual’s fitness level is maintained and developed by three primary components: diet, exercise and rest. The latter plays a major role in the overall health and fitness of an individual. It is proven that failing to give your body enough rest to recover properly can hinder and negatively affect your fitness progress.

Why Do We Need To Rest?

According to a research conducted by the University of New Mexico, rest and recovery are very critical to achieve optimal exercise performance and overall improvement. During a physical activity, the body goes through physical and mental strain, and thus needs an adequate amount of rest in order to function at its peak performance. 

Making sure that you're getting a good night's sleep is as critical as having an intense amount of training. Gymnastics is a physically-demanding activity, and without enough sleep, your body will not be able to function and perform at its best. So, always make sure that you're getting enough rest after every training session.

Benefits of Rest

Rest is an essential part of physical fitness, and by incorporating a sufficient amount of rest in your fitness routine, you’ll be surprised with all the benefits you can get from it. 

Oftentimes, in most kinds of physical activities, especially those sports which are highly competitive – such as gymnastics – pushes a person to overtrain and go beyond their limits. Their mindset is to train as hard as possible in order to progress ahead of their competitors. But that kind of attitude is counterproductive, as you’re depriving your body with the rest it needs to recover properly. 

“Working out, especially resistance training, breaks your body tissues down. In fact, resistance training breaks down muscles causing microscopic tears,” Wynter said. Rest days allow your muscles, nerves, bones, and connective tissue time to rebuild.”

By allowing your body to rest, you’re giving your body a chance to recover and thus, allowing your body to perform better.

To be able to achieve the peak of your fitness level, you must ensure that your training program is carefully planned and polished to fit your fitness goals. Learn more about health and fitness by regularly reading our educational blogs and articles. 

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