Need help with 9 year ols

You should talk to his doctor to make sure there isn't anything physically wrong to keep him from exercising.

I have some exercises I'm not good at. Some that I am. You could find one of those 30 day challenges and follow it- just maxing out at a lower number. I have seen some that keeps the same number of Jumping Jacke or Push Ups every day.

Over the summer I took the kids to the park and had them walk a lap with me before they could hit the playground.

Check out the Presidential Fitness Challenge below. This is a guideline used by some schools. We shouldn't "test" our children's fitness at that age but we should challenge them. But I would agree, first and foremost, check with your doctor and be sure there are no other issues.

Turn the TV off and 60 mins a day of play! Best answer ever.


https://www.presidentschallenge.org/challenge/physical/benchmarks.shtml

Limiting screen time is definitely a good idea. You might check out if there are some sports he's interested in playing. Soccer, swimming, Lacrosse, basketball, tennis are all good workouts and fun. And working out with his family is great if it's done in an encouraging way. Unstructured play is also great exercise. A kid playing playground games for an hour will burn as much as you will in a hard aerobics class.

This is madness!

Testing little kids and making them feel inadequate because they can't run to a certain speed or do a bunch of sit-ups is like some kind of brown-shirt nightmare.

What happened to letting kids be kids?

As long as he is getting some fresh air and engaging in some physical activities appropriate to his age (which you say he is), then I wouldn't worry about him being an olympian just yet.

Kids at the age of 9 generally aren't going to get great exercise by simply playing outside. Try and get your son involved in actual sports! That way he'll really push himself and finally get into better shape.

I think running and exercising with your son is a great idea. My middle daughter who wasn't a runner joined cross country this year and now a few months later is coming in 3rd out of 29 girls she is running a mile and a half in 9.45 minutes. Sure it was hard work but she ran a little father each day and is going districts. I should add she is only 11. If not remembe3 all kids are different, check with a doctor. But as long as there is nothing wrong, I wouldn't stress to much

Aye aye to sports. My kids are 7,7 and 9 and have been involved in swimming for a couple years now. It's not inexpensive, and they eat like little horses, but it's worth it because it gives them confidence and strength and gets them into the spirit of being a good teammate.

When I was a kid, there was a school-system wide track and field league for girls as young as fourth grade. I can not emphasize enough how positive of an experience it was to be involved in organized sports.

Kids that participate in sports get set up for a lifetime relationship with sports and fitness and playing well with others. Healthy body image, confidence, problem solving, strength and conditioning ... the benefits go on and on.

Your son sounds like a good kid. What kind of sports do you think he might be interested in?

I have to agree with some of these posts.

My son is 15 and is now starting to engage is more strength training based exercises. He is extremely active and plays a lot of sports!

I was always told by his doctor that because he is growing it is unnecessary to pursue strength training because it could in fact cause more damage. I would personally avoid any type of strength training that includes weights as well!

Organized sports are great for getting physical!

I couldn't run fast or do push ups and I know many kids the same way. Some kids are fast, some kids are slow. Not everyone are equal in sports. As long as he is healthy, playing outdoors and not forever in front of the TV junking I should think it should be fine and it's kinda sad to think the school would actually test him and also tell him about the "bad results" making him feel bad...

Involve him in some kind of sports like soccer, basket ball (Since he's tall) or tennis or even swimming and that should be enough of a workout for a kid.

Is he kind?
Is he healthy?
Does he have activities he enjoys?

If so, there is no need for concern that he doesn't fit government standards for how 9 yr olds should be physically.

This reminds me the modern day fable "Animal School"

Once upon a time, the animals decided they must do something to meet the standards of the world. So they organized a school.
They adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming and flying. To make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took all the subjects.
The duck was excellent in swimming, in fact better than his instructor, but he made only passing grades in flying and was very poor in running. Since he was slow in running, he had to stay after school and also drop swimming in order to practice running. This was kept up until his webbed feet were badly worn and he was only average in swimming. But average was acceptable in school, so nobody worried about that except the duck.
The rabbit started at the top of the class in running, but had a nervous breakdown because of so much make-up work in swimming.
The squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed frustration in the flying class where his teacher made him start from the ground up instead of from the treetop down. He also developed a "charlie horse" from overexertion and then got a C in climbing and a "D" in running.
The eagle was a problem child and was disciplined severely. In the climbing class he beat all the others to the top of the tree, but insisted on using his own way to get there so was deducted points for not following the approved method.
.....

Is he kind?
Is he healthy?
Does he have activities he enjoys?

If so, there is no need for concern that he doesn't fit government standards for how 9 yr olds should be physically.

This reminds me the modern day fable "Animal School"

Once upon a time, the animals decided they must do something to meet the standards of the world. So they organized a school.
They adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming and flying. To make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took all the subjects.
The duck was excellent in swimming, in fact better than his instructor, but he made only passing grades in flying and was very poor in running. Since he was slow in running, he had to stay after school and also drop swimming in order to practice running. This was kept up until his webbed feet were badly worn and he was only average in swimming. But average was acceptable in school, so nobody worried about that except the duck.
The rabbit started at the top of the class in running, but had a nervous breakdown because of so much make-up work in swimming.
The squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed frustration in the flying class where his teacher made him start from the ground up instead of from the treetop down. He also developed a "charlie horse" from overexertion and then got a C in climbing and a "D" in running.
The eagle was a problem child and was disciplined severely. In the climbing class he beat all the others to the top of the tree, but insisted on using his own way to get there so was deducted points for not following the approved method.
.....

^This is a cool story. Thank you.

My son who is 7 has run up to two miles with me and he loves it. We also play tennis together. He lifts weight with me too. We keep them light (except because I love deadlifts, he always wants to do more...he has deadlifted 45 pounds). He only weighs 43 pounds and is very very thin. It's completely fine for him to exercise with you. That said, not everyone meets those standards and that is ok too.

Thanks. He plays outside just about every day, but it's not like he's out there doing pushups, lifting heavy things or running laps with his friends. They have a blast outside, but it's clear he's not building any strength out there.

They don't climb trees or play baseball or anything like that? Tag? Hide and seek?

Those were the things we did and I never had a problem passing the physical fitness tests.

Your son is a healthy weight and height for his age (check growth charts) 75th percentile for weight and 105 percentile for his height... healthy kid ( tall tho...so I suspect that is what makes him look thin) My son was in the 50th percentile for weight...over 100 for height until the rest of the kids caught up with him. But that being said he apparently is not very active. My son at the same age was climbing trees, running, playing, biking, hiking...you name it he did it and he was a strong kid he didn't do organized sports until he was 12...then it wa rugby cause he was strong...not hockey he is uncordinated..no basketball his shot is horrible...

Organized sports could help but that is expensive...kids need to play outside....do things that challenage him...my nephew who is the same age helps throw the wood in....rakes leaves with his father, climbs trees, climbs on monkey bars...

But that being said all these people who are saying it is madness to test this...are you aware that north american children are on average overweight and/or obese....many are getting type 2 diabetes in their early years....my own neice had to have her gall bladder removed due to her poor diet and obesity.

1 in 3 kids in the US are now classed as overweight and/or obese....that is madness. I may get bashed for this but the problem is that people don't want their kids to feel "bad"...that they don't measure up...that whole "no kid left behind" mentailty that has gone too far...where there are no losers all winners and get a medal for showing up...give me a break.:grumble:

My 9 yo is 5' even, about 115 lbs and seems a bit chubby. He's currently in Fall Soccer (competed 5 years), just tried out for basketball (competed 4 years) and will roll into fast pitch baseball (5 years again) in the spring. I've been his team coach all the way. Just make the decision to get him active, he'll follow and have a good time along the way.

My son is among the slowest in his class. No reason for concern. The tall kids always develop speed later than the little guys. That said my kid did indeed pick out his own workout. The Spartan Workout from Men's Health. He does it twice a week w/ 5 lb DBs. It's helped his overall coordination.