In this digital age, it’s tempting to just let your children stay inside and play video games. It’s easy, they’re ‘safe’ and sometimes it’s just what they want to do. However, teaching your children to be inactive can have dire consequences in the long run.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare:
• 1 in 4 Australian children, aged 2-17, were overweight or obese in 2014-2015.
• 80% of children and young people aged 5-17 did not meet physical activity recommendations.
• 64% of children aged 5-8 failed to meet the physical activity recommendations.
The statistics show that it is now more common for a child to be inactive than active. Insufficient exercise sets children up for a range of health and psychological issues in the future. However, encouraging kids to be active at a young age has far more lifelong benefits than most parents are aware of.
What are the benefits?
• Heart strength:Workouts that increase your child’s heart rate leads to increased cardiovascular fitness. This strengthens the heart and lung muscles for healthy development, while simultaneously reducing the chance of heart disease and cancer in the future.
• Strong bones:Working out increases the bone density among children, which encourages the healthy growth of bones, muscles, and ligaments. Strong bones and ligaments not only help children reach their height potential, but also helps to develop a good posture and reduce risk of bone breakage later on in life.
• Improved coordination and balance: Teaching children new skills to workout, whether that be a sport, weight training, or an aerobics class, helps them to develop better coordination and balance. This will be a huge benefit when they start cooking, riding a bike or playing more competitive sports in the future.
• Greater ability to relax: The exertion of energy helps children to experience a calming effect on their entire body, which can help them to avoid chronic muscular tension (head/back aches), and improve their sleep quality!
• Mental health benefits: Exercise is a fighting tool in combating invasive mental health issues such as low self-esteem, depression and anxiety. It teaches children how to be self-confident and resilient at a young age. In addition, exercise helps improve concentration and memory, which gives them a step up in their studies and brain development. It also helps reduce stress and raises their serotonin levels, helping them to lead happy and healthy lives.
• Improved social skills/ personal skills: Another added benefit of social exercise (such as workout classes or team workouts), is that it teaches children the social and personal skills that are essential to leading a fulfilling life. The benefits of learning cooperation and teamwork goes far beyond the gym or field, as these skills carry with them into their schooling, friendship and their family lives.
How to motivate the kids AND fit it within your schedule!
Here at Roar, all members’ children get access to two free fitness classes each week across both clubs.
In addition, RFX CrossFit offers CrossFit-based training for children as young as 5 years on a term by term basis, and encourages pre-teens and teenagers to join CrossFit with no lock in contract membership!
Roar’s mission is to get your kids moving without jeopardising your own workout time, so this year hit two birds with one stone and take your kids along with you on your workout journey and experience the benefits that working out and Roar has to offer!
Benefits of RFX CrossFit
When it comes to fitness, it is essential to make sure you find the perfect program, sport or workout style that best suits you! As we make our way through several programs or classes, the road to finding your perfect routine can be daunting. However, if you find yourself struggling to find the motivation to workout alone, but still searching for a powerful weight training workout then perhaps it’s time to give RFX CrossFit a try!
So what are the benefits of RFX CrossFit?
More Personalised Attention
If you are someone who loves working out with others, but is still searching for intensity then RFX is your answer! Each of our RFX classes consists of a series of intense CrossFit based training exercises, that utilises cardio and weights, while also being surrounded by others performing the same task. You’ll get the personalised attention of working with a professional, but broken up between multiple people who are in the same boat. As well, the class sizes are just big enough for each member to have one on one time with a coach so they can get the best out of you each session. You’ll leave each class feeling like you learned something new and got an intense workout all while immersed in a supportive community of like minded people.
Motivation
Working out alongside others, whether it in be a circuit-style setup or even weights, can be more motivating than compared to working out alone. Having someone there with you, performing the workouts under the instruction of a coach, forces you to not only push yourself to keep up but offers a supportive energy so you can easily jump back in when you feel yourself slipping.
Variety
Each RFX class session is guided by industry professionals who are knowledgeable about all different kinds of exercises you perhaps would never have learned on your own. When we go to the gym alone, we tend to follow the same routines and are limited with how much variety we can incorporate. Whereas a qualified coach will set up different exercises, ones you may have never heard of, that will also help target your goals and prevent the entire group from a plateau.
As well, you get to experience the variety of exercises with others who are learning as well, so you all can support one another throughout the entire process.
Fun and Results
When working together as a group you have the luxury of seeing your fitness progress in relation to others in your group, and together you can celebrate success while also working out new methods to accomplish even more!
Working together as a team and having that camaraderie can be a much more encouraging, then if you were left on your own. So if you are someone who enjoys a group environment and a powerful workout then RFX CrossFit is your solution! Sign up today!
Amp Up Your Metabolism!
Metabolism is the system that converts what you eat and drink into energy. At any time, this can speed up and slow down.
You gain weight when you eat more calories than you burn so it is crucial for successful weight management to keep active and where possible, signal to your body that the food you’ve consumed was plentiful and that you are ready to speed up your metabolism and burn fat.
Here are some tips to amp up your metabolism!
• Eat Healthy Fats
dark chocolate – avocados – olive oil – coconut oil – natural peanut button – nuts – walnuts – flax seed – fish – salmon – olives – soybeans
• Drink 2-3 Litres of Water a Day
After drinking 2 litres of water, metabolism speeds up 30% within 10 minutes and reaches a maximum boost after 30-40 minutes.
It is proven that drinking cold water, especially icy cold water will help you to burn up to 400 extra kilojoules per day for every 2L of water you drink, which the equivalent of an extra snack every single day.
• Eat small meals every 3-4 hours
Eating every 3-4 hours can help you develop a great relationship with food and keep you burning fat for hours. Whilst eating more frequently has no direct impact on your metabolism it will help in keeping you feeling ‘full’; resulting in eating less ‘unnecessary’ foods.
• Sleep for 8 hours
Sleep helps the body perform at its best all day long. Sleep deprivation signals your metabolism to slow down, use less energy and causes many to binge later in the day.
• Eat more to lose weight
Avoid restrictive diets! Extreme calories restrictions wrecks lasting weight loss efforts as your body compensates by slowing down your metabolism and conserves calories for survival.
5 Ways to Improve Your Gut Health
It’s easy to forget about your gut, but did you know that your gut health affects much more than just your digestive system? The gut is one of the most important elements to proper bodily functioning! The gut is where the food is broken down and transferred to other parts of the body. It is also filled with living bacteria that keep you alive, but when things turn for the worst, can also be your worst enemies!
Gut health is easy to neglect, and for that reason it is super important to give your gut some love, so it can give it back to you! Outlined below are some steps that you can take to help keep your gut healthy and happy.
1. CHEW
Do you remember being reprimanded by your mum about chewing slowly? Well she had a point! Slowly chewing your food and mashing it up makes it much easier for your body to digest it and absorb all of the proper nutrients. Your saliva contains enzymes which break down the food in your mouth that make it more bioavailable for the rest of our digestive system!
An additional benefit of chewing slowly is that it can aid in fat loss! Chewing slowly allows your body extra time to signal your brain that you are getting full. It takes 20 minutes from when you are completely full for your body to send a signal to your brain that gives the “fullness” sensation.
2. DRINK PLENTY OF WATER
The golden rule that most of us neglect on a daily basis! Water is the foundation of life, yet most of us forget to get our 8 cups in. Staying hydrated is essential for proper gut health!
Drinking enough water ensures that your stool isn’t difficult to pass. When you are dehydrated, passing stool can be an uncomfortable experience and one that puts stress on your bowels. Too much stress on your bowls can cause a rupture in the bowel walls, which is not only extremely painful, but also can release bacteria into the bloodstream, affecting a wide range of bodily functions.
3. TAKE PROBIOTICS
Your gut is filled with millions of good bacteria, designed to break down the food you’re eating. However, among the good there are some bacteria is not good for your body and can actually cause you to crave unhealthy foods.
A poor diet, can cause an imbalance between the good and bad bacteria, leading the bad to take over the good! This is where digestive issues arise, in some cases it can also lead to allergies and even mental instability such as depression. With this in mind, it’s crucial to get the right kind of bacteria in charge.
Taking a probiotic supplement (such as Yakult) or foods with naturally high probiotics (such as natural yogurt, kimchi, kefir or fermented foods) can help you restore that balance in your gut. It’s important to take these supplements daily, as research suggests it needs to be a daily intake in order for the effects to be fully realised.
4. AVOID INFLAMMATORY FOODS
Although we all have different definitions of what constitutes “inflammatory foods”, it is safe to say that most refined carbs, like candy or fast food, are bad for gut health.
These foods can inflame the digestive tract, and destroy the villi (small, finger-like projections on the walls of the intestines that absorb nutrients from food) in the intestines. This can have serious consequences on your gut health and health in general, as it reduces the level of nutrition that is able to be absorbed from the food you eat.
A good rule of thumb is to go for unrefined whole foods, with plenty of fruits and vegetables.
5. TRY A PERIOD OF INTERMITTENT FASTING
Intermittent fasting has recently risen up as one of the fastest growing diet trends in the recent years, however unlike many other diet fads, this fab has proven to be beneficial to your holistic health, including the gut!
Taking a break from eating food for blocks of time, gives your digestive tract the opportunity to rest and clear out. This can also allow your gut flora to focus on things unrelated to digestion, i.e. populating themselves.
So, don’t you forget about the gut! It is one of the most vital bodily systems that keep you alive and healthy on a daily basis! Make sure to follow these steps and care of it, so it can take care of you!
