The number of overweight children has been steadily increasing at an alarming rate over the past few years. In 2016, the number of overweight children under the age of five, is estimated to be over 41 million globally. To ensure that children maintain a healthy weight, parents should try to encourage their kids to adopt an active lifestyle. Pull-up is a simple strength training exercise that can help your kid build strong muscles, improve balance and control of their body. However, doing a pull-up incorrectly can potentially cause damage to the body. A bad form, body posture, or wrong techniques are the most common reasons why people do pull-ups wrongly. Read on to find out how you can help your child do a pull up with perform form to avoid injuries.
Have a Solid Grip
The way your child grips the overhead bar will determine how well they work their muscles. To start off with, teach your child to hold the bar with their palms facing away from them. Their thumbs are to be on the side of the bar that faces away from them. This is known as a full grip.
Pull yourself up
Make sure that their hands are directly above each of their shoulder, and at shoulder width apart. This will force your child to use their core and shoulders to lift their body up. Your child can first do a dead hang, where they hang on the bar for a second or two. Then, tighten all the muscles in the core and lift themselves up. Lean slightly backwards while your kid is pulling up and keep the body as straight as possible. The legs should be together with the toes pointed forward. The shoulder blades are to be moving downward in order to minimize shrugging or rounding forward with the chest.
Breathe, breathe, breathe
As your child stays in a dead hang, teach them to inhale deeply and hold that breath. Engage their core and as they pull themselves up, tell them to exhale slowly. Breathe in on their way down and exhale again on their way up. Keep in mind that as they breathe in, they are to keep their core muscles engage at all time.
Not everyone can do a perfect pull-up on their first try. It takes time and tons of practice. Pull-ups are tough exercises that many people tend to try to stay away from as much as possible. However, once your child mastered the perfect pull-up, it is going to be beneficial for him/her in the long run. To start off, they can try to do three sets of ‘dead hangs’ on the bar and maintain in that position for as long as they can.
It is important that parents always supervise their child when they are performing pull-ups to ensure safety. Make sure to use a gym mat for extra safety. At Fitness Kid, we boast a wide range of indoor gym products that your child can use to not only perform the perfect pull-up, but also many other exercises. Feel free to browse through our inventory today.
