Workout for a teenager

[Big Ash]

Just looking for some advice for my niece. She's recently turned 14 and she wants to improve her fitness and tone up a little.

She has a mountain bike and her mum just brought her this:
http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/5495/vfitia3.jpg

I would appreciate some suggestions on a suitable workout routine for her.

Regards,

Ashley

[illegal entry]

Sell all that and buy a barbell and some weights. :rolleyes:

As for a routine, I'll leave that to someone else for now...

[Sever]

She could take a few pilates classes and practise at home with the ball and mat (pilates is a really good workout, actually), skipping is a great warm up and cardiovascular exercise too. As for the tiny dumbells, those things will make great doorstops ;)
She can also apply the tabata method (http://www.t-nation.com/findArticle.do?article=04-046-training) to her mountain biking if she has a decent cycle path or similar near by. I swear by the tabata stuff, particularly when applied to cycling or bag work

[Beowolf]

She could take a few pilates classes and practise at home with the ball and mat (pilates is a really good workout, actually), skipping is a great warm up and cardiovascular exercise too. As for the tiny dumbells, those things will make great doorstops ;)
She can also apply the tabata method (http://www.t-nation.com/findArticle.do?article=04-046-training) to her mountain biking if she has a decent cycle path or similar near by. I swear by the tabata stuff, particularly when applied to cycling or bag work

Coulda swore I read an article somewhere that pilates burns less calories then walking to the gym where one one take a pilates class :rolleyes: :p .

Sell it all, buy a barbell or a couple of adjustable dumbells, check out fareheit or the vixen forum on T-nation for advice on a workout.

Edit: Yes, tabata is insane. :D :D :D

[ItalianStallion]

Check out this site
http://www.f-heit.com/index.jsp?jumpTo=487545

[Skrom]

hahaha, a trampoline :D

i personally wouldn't bother even trying to get her to lift weights, just tell her to do bodyweight squats/pushups and run around a lot and not eat trash.

[Big Ash]

Thanks for the advice guys. I know she's wasted her money with what she's brought but I didn't have any input. Just trying to make the best of what she's got.

Ash

[NaughtyKnight]

Bodyweight exercises will sort her out until she is older.

[Randel]

Yeah, everyones saying uy some decent dumbells and a barbell, but if shes looking to tone then those weights will be perfect (if maye a little to small) just do as many reps as she can still exhaustion. Also do allot of bouncing and skipping, which is great for cario and tonning the stomarch. Use the stepper for tonning her but and legs.

[ItalianStallion]

Yeah, everyones saying uy some decent dumbells and a barbell, but if shes looking to tone then those weights will be perfect (if maye a little to small) just do as many reps as she can still exhaustion. Also do allot of bouncing and skipping, which is great for cario and tonning the stomarch. Use the stepper for tonning her but and legs.
:eek: :cry:
There is no such thing as 'tonning'. Its just a myth made up by girly-men and cheap personal trainers. Doing high reps will do nothing but promote endurance, you wont get 'tone' from that. Most people think that high reps give a muscle a better shape, which is crap to say the least, you cant change the shape of your muscle.
A better word would be definition, which you can get by lifting weights - heavier to promote size, and cardio to reduce body fat.

edit: spelling -.-

[Frodocious]

That equipment is not ideal but she can work with it.

Depending on what her fitness goals are she can mix up distance riding on her bike with intervals, e.g. 30 secs hard riding 30 secs rest, 1 min hard riding 1 min rest (build up to 3 mins hard riding 1 min rest) tabata sets. Is that a skipping rope in the picture? If so they are ideal for interval training as well - same sort of sets as before.

The ball can be used to help with core stability work, do push ups with feet on the ball or hands on the ball. Do crunches on the ball.

The trampoline can be used for core stability work and balance work.

The weights, well they are fairly pathetic but she could use them to do rotator cuff work or put them all in a backpack to add weight to things like pushups.

Even the stepper can be used to do some exercise.

As others have said bodyweight work can give excellent results - bodyweight squats, a variety of push ups, v-ups, bootstrappers, planks - see the links below.

At her age it is more important that she does some sort of workout and less important what she does, you need to get her into the mindset that exercise is good, so make sure she enjoys what she is doing

For some excellent ideals on training with minimal equipment try:

http://www.rosstraining.com/

and look at the articles page and the forum

or

http://www.trainforstrength.com/

[Reakt]

http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/5495/vfitia3.jpg

The Trampoline is pretty good I find, 30 mins of bouncing up and down can really get your Breathing going and break you out into a Sweat.

The Mat and Exercise Ball can be used to do more difficult Crunches or can even just be used to sit and roll around on, if you're moving around then you're burning more Calories then sitting perfectly still, even if its a very small amount.

Skipping rope, good Cardio. 'Nuff said.

That Pedal thing. Yet again not as useful as first thought but if shes moving on the spot with it while watching TV or doing something else then she will always be burning Calories, very small amounts, but still burning none the less.

The Dumbells. The only thing I can think of is maybe holding one in each hand and Shadow boxing with them. Should burn more calories then normal Shadow Boxing due to the resistance, but I dont know that for sure.

To make the most of it just stick to a good plan. Do 30mins to an Hour of Cardio per day on the Bike, or maybe doing some Running/Jogging etc (proper Cardio activities). Then throughout the day if shes sitting there bored doing nothing she can use one of the item's mentioned above whilst indoors, every little helps.

[Frodocious]

At her age you need to be wary of putting her off exercise. You know her better than we do, so don't give her routines that are too difficult / complicated / boring.

Have you got a bike? If so you could take her out cycling. I don't know where you're based but if you are reasonably near to some good tracks and trails, go for longer rides with her, pack food and water and make a day of it. Start off with shortish distances, say 10 to 20 miles, and build up to a full day out if she enjoys it. The main thing is that she doesn't start to view exercise as an unpleasant chore, but as something that is fun and rewarding.

[NaughtyKnight]

:eek: :cry:
There is no such thing as 'tonning'. Its just a myth made up by girly-men and cheap personal trainers. Doing high reps will do nothing but promote endurance, you wont get 'tone' from that. Most people think that high reps give a muscle a better shape, which is crap to say the least, you cant change the shape of your muscle.
A better word would be definition, which you can get by lifting weights - heavier to promote size, and cardio to reduce body fat.

edit: spelling -.-

How can you be bothered explaing that, i got bored after the 100 time, so now I just agree. TONING IS THE 1337!

[ItalianStallion]

How can you be bothered explaing that, i got bored after the 100 time, so now I just agree. TONING IS THE 1337!

I've got trials so like...doing anything, is like..WOW FUN! :woo: ...compared to this so called study thing... I shouldn't even be here :bang:

[NaughtyKnight]

Lol. The HSC is fun ;)