Good, positive exercise DVDs for teens and children?
October 12, 2015 8:01 AM Subscribe
I work at a psychiatric hospital, on the child and adolescent service. Our kids don't have a lot of opportunity for exercise, which is really not good, given how effective exercise can be for mood regulation, self-confidence, etc. I'd like to find some good exercise DVDs that they can use when they have unstructured time on the unit. I'd like them to be as positive as possible-- not a lot of "burn that flab away" or "let's sculpt sexy butts."
-Any kind of internet streaming media isn't permitted, so it has to be stuff that's available on DVD.
-All types of exercise are fine: cardio, strength training, yoga, etc. Ideally I'd like to get a good mix of options for them to choose from.
-The primary audience will be male and female adolescents, but stuff geared toward younger children is also good.
-We don't have much in the way of equipment available. I'm not against getting some equipment, but there are lots of limitations as to what can be on the unit. Weights are out, as are resistance bands (ligature risk), so strength stuff has to be mostly body weight. We do have some yoga mats and punching bags/ protective gloves.
-Any kind of internet streaming media isn't permitted, so it has to be stuff that's available on DVD.
-All types of exercise are fine: cardio, strength training, yoga, etc. Ideally I'd like to get a good mix of options for them to choose from.
-The primary audience will be male and female adolescents, but stuff geared toward younger children is also good.
-We don't have much in the way of equipment available. I'm not against getting some equipment, but there are lots of limitations as to what can be on the unit. Weights are out, as are resistance bands (ligature risk), so strength stuff has to be mostly body weight. We do have some yoga mats and punching bags/ protective gloves.
I don't know if this is an option within your budgetary constraints, but what about activity-based video games like Just Dance or the Wii Fit?
posted by KathrynT at 8:16 AM on October 12, 2015 [8 favorites]
posted by KathrynT at 8:16 AM on October 12, 2015 [8 favorites]
We did some basic yoga with my Girl Scouts a few meetings ago and (with the exception of one girl who was being a jerk that day) they all (ages 5-10) loved it, especially the partner stretches. I don't have any DVD recommendations for you but I think that simple yoga poses would be a really good place to start.
My co-leader goes to yoga classes once a week so just led the group herself. I don't think our girls would have paid attention to a video even if we had had one.
posted by phunniemee at 8:28 AM on October 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
My co-leader goes to yoga classes once a week so just led the group herself. I don't think our girls would have paid attention to a video even if we had had one.
posted by phunniemee at 8:28 AM on October 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
I second the idea for Just Dance or Wii Fit games. My daughters' elementary school uses these projected onto a big screen when the weather is too bad to have outdoor activities. (Groups of kids take turns holding the controllers.)
posted by heathrowga at 8:32 AM on October 12, 2015
posted by heathrowga at 8:32 AM on October 12, 2015
It's been a while, but isn't sweating to the oldies pretty fun?
posted by Ms Vegetable at 8:40 AM on October 12, 2015
posted by Ms Vegetable at 8:40 AM on October 12, 2015
My mom is a big fan of Margaret Richards from the Body Electric PBS show. I don't really recall her talking too much about improving your physical appearence. Her focus was usually about slowly improving your strength and keeping it as your grow older.
Here's the DVD section on her site.
posted by mccarty.tim at 8:50 AM on October 12, 2015
Here's the DVD section on her site.
posted by mccarty.tim at 8:50 AM on October 12, 2015
If you can get your hands on a copy of Cardioke, it is extremely gimmicky but RIDICULOUSLY fun, although young kids may be less likely to know the songs. (Here's one of the more intense numbers to give you an idea.)
posted by babelfish at 9:29 AM on October 12, 2015
posted by babelfish at 9:29 AM on October 12, 2015
My wife is a Beach Body coach and I know that they (makers of P90X, etc.) have some older DVDs for sale online that are specifically fun and quality workouts for kids. They're pretty well done (a little dated) but they focus on easy to do movements and require zero equipment. The two I know of are "Shaun T's Fit Kids Club" (with the guy who does the Insanity workouts) and "Tony & the Kids" (with the P90X guy). They're like $20 each.
posted by sleeping bear at 9:36 AM on October 12, 2015
posted by sleeping bear at 9:36 AM on October 12, 2015
My friends run YogaQuest here in Minneapolis and recently released a DVD that might fit the bill!
posted by kittyb at 9:45 AM on October 12, 2015
posted by kittyb at 9:45 AM on October 12, 2015
Here to second Shaun T's Fit Kids Club and Tony & The Kids. Also recommending Richard Simmons's Sweatin' to the Oldies series. It's very body-positive, not focused on getting "sexy," and has a diverse cast of background exercisers.
posted by infinitewindow at 11:51 AM on October 12, 2015
posted by infinitewindow at 11:51 AM on October 12, 2015
Some of the Leslie Sansone DVDs would fit the bill. Amazon has a wide selection.
posted by misseva at 12:46 PM on October 12, 2015
posted by misseva at 12:46 PM on October 12, 2015
Response by poster: Thank you all for the thoughtful answers so far!
I will look into the Wii options-- the main concern is that stuff gets destroyed very quickly on the units. Our TVs, for instance, have to be behind thick plexiglass, and the DVD players are located in the nursing stations where patients cannot go. Anybody know how durable the Wii fit boards are?
As far as in-person instruction goes, we do have some of that: there are a couple of fitness groups run by our ed/rehab staff every week. They generally get mixed reviews, depending on which instructor is there. The slate of classes isn't going to expand any time soon, due to really short staffing. My hope is to have more options available to the kids during their down time, when the most popular activity is usually sitting and watching TV.
I feel like dance-based work outs, as some have suggested, would be a really good fit for the kids. Anybody have more suggestions along those lines? Doesn't have to be explicitly a fitness DVD-- any kind of dance teaching, especially more modern, would work.
posted by bookish at 5:39 PM on October 12, 2015
I will look into the Wii options-- the main concern is that stuff gets destroyed very quickly on the units. Our TVs, for instance, have to be behind thick plexiglass, and the DVD players are located in the nursing stations where patients cannot go. Anybody know how durable the Wii fit boards are?
As far as in-person instruction goes, we do have some of that: there are a couple of fitness groups run by our ed/rehab staff every week. They generally get mixed reviews, depending on which instructor is there. The slate of classes isn't going to expand any time soon, due to really short staffing. My hope is to have more options available to the kids during their down time, when the most popular activity is usually sitting and watching TV.
I feel like dance-based work outs, as some have suggested, would be a really good fit for the kids. Anybody have more suggestions along those lines? Doesn't have to be explicitly a fitness DVD-- any kind of dance teaching, especially more modern, would work.
posted by bookish at 5:39 PM on October 12, 2015
The Bollywood Dance Workout is not geared for kids, but my daughter enjoyed doing it with me. It's very positive and very gently supportive of what your body can do. I don't quite know how the instructor can coax and ease me into getting my heartrate up, but she does, and I end the workout all relaxed and stretched out.
posted by Margalo Epps at 6:23 PM on October 12, 2015
posted by Margalo Epps at 6:23 PM on October 12, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Etrigan at 8:13 AM on October 12, 2015