The secret to teaching a safe and effective youth fitness session

Have you ever tried to teach a group of 10-year olds for an hour without having a clear plan and a program? Years ago I tried it and I am lucky I survived the experience. :-) The energy of a 10-year old is amazing and harnessing that energy definitely requires some preparation in advance. 

A pre-meditated program and a plan is a secret and a must in order to teach a safe and successful session. It is even more important when teaching the youth than the adults whose attention span is a few seconds longer (hopefully) and the energy level maybe just a bit lower.

In the School of Youth Fitness I use a lesson plan that helps me in:

1. Goal setting
2. Instruction
3. Organization
4. Giving feedback 
5. Time management

Here is what a sample lesson plan would look like.

5 more School of Youth Fitness lesson plan basics:

1. Alternate high intensity (higher heart rate) and lower intensity (skill etc) activities.
2. Plan the session with periods of teaching broken up by fun games and drills. 
3. Ask questions to make sure everyone has understood all the instructions. 
4. Make the exercises challenging enough to keep everyone motivated.
5. Include flexibility, coordination, strength, agility, balance etc. within the same session.   

Planning is the key to safe, effective and fun youth fitness programs!

Tommi the Trainer

PS: Back to school, Fall 2011! Youth fitness groups register now! 
Call 201-677-8885 or email