Should You Bring Your Kids to the Gym?

Encouraging kids to be active is always a good idea.
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Kids working out (or "working out") on social media has officially become a trend. Celebrity trainer David Kirsch just posted a video of his two young daughters "making family time healthy time" at the gym. After Thanksgiving, Justin Timberlake shared a video of him doing push-ups with his 2-year-old son on his back. And Jenna Dewan-Tatum showed us how kids can sometimes make getting a workout done more challenging with a video of her 4-year-old daughter Everly running straight into a group dance rehearsal.

With the new year in full swing and parents trying to get back into a regular fitness routine, it's helpful to consider how kids can factor into your workout routine. The little ones may be too short for box jumps and too young for pilates class, but the CDC recommends children and adolescents engage in 60 minutes of physical activity every day. And organized exercise can absolutely be a part of that.

Kids should be exercising regularly—but under a certain age, "exercise" is best done by simply playing.

The CDC says that kids should do three types of physical activity. Aerobic activity, from moderate to vigorous, "should make up most of your child's 60 or more minutes of physical activity each day." At least three days per week, add in muscle-strengthening activities like gymnastics and bone-strengthening activities (something with impact) like running or jumping rope. As children become adolescents, structured weight programs can come into play as part of training for a team sport. The reason very young kids don't usually need structured strength-training programs is simply because the activities they do are sufficient for building strength.

"From birth to about 5 or 6 years old, merely make exercise play," Brett Klika, certified strength and conditioning specialist and cofounder of SpiderFit Kids, tells SELF. Stick to child-friendly exercise equipment like balls and hula hoops, and don't worry about rules or structure. At around age 7 or 8, it's time to introduce more technical cues, says Klika. "When they can perform activities correctly and they become easy, adding small degrees of extra load, like carrying a medicine ball or a weighted backpack helps make the activities more challenging," he says. "However, there should be no rush to get to this point." The key here is that kids (like adults) should be taught proper exercise form before any sort of weights are added to avoid injury.

It's also really important to consider how your child feels about the exercise they're doing.

While physiology is important here, so is psychology. "Take care to always create a positive, fun exercise experience," Klika says. "Avoid exercises that makes kids feel inept or embarrassed. Exercises can be challenging, but kids should be able to accomplish the task," he says. If your child seems to enjoy an activity, encourage them to do it frequently. If not, don't force them. As Klika says, "being forced can taint their perception of physical activity."


For younger kids, he recommends working on skills like skipping, shuffling, galloping, rolling, squatting, throwing, and kicking. For slightly older children, try an introduction to running as both a skill and a cardio activity. "Learning the right way to run while enjoying the challenge to the cardiovascular system is more important than specific cardiovascular metrics," he says.

Being physically active with your child at any age can have additional relationship-building benefits.

"It's positive time together that improves both of your health," says Klika. Plus, you're helping to create habits that can last a lifetime. "Kids that see their parents exercise and have a positive experience doing it with them are more likely to stay active for life. Parents that are active with kids create a 'culture of wellness' in the home," he says. As you're planning your workouts for the week, why not keep your children in mind? Whether it's soccer practice or goblet squats, as long as your child is exercising safely and enjoying it, there are plenty of good reasons to encourage them to keep moving.