Keeping teenagers physically active during the summer often means moving away from their usual forced routines. It’s a great time to switch up activities, prioritize functional movement, support injury prevention, and prevent burnout. Here are a few ideas from your local Comox Physio physios to keep your teen moving safely through the summer months:
1. Shift to Low-Impact Water Workouts
The Reason: Summer heat brings the risk of dehydration and heat exhaustion, while hard summer surfaces can increase the impact on growing joints.
The Action: Encourage getting in or on the water. Swimming, paddling, and pool games offer natural cardiovascular resistance while eliminating high-impact stress on the knees, ankles, and spine, making them ideal for active conditioning and injury prevention.
2. Prioritize Lower-Stakes, Non-Competitive Play
The Reason: If summer is typically your teen’s off-season, consider not forcing competitive sports during this time to prevent mental burnout and repetitive overuse injuries.
The Action: Offer low-pressure alternatives such as drop-in dance classes, recreational rock climbing, or pickup basketball at the park. Shifting the focus from winning to social connection and free play can keep motivation high without the pressure of athletic competition.
3. Use Bodyweight Over Heavy Gym Weights
The Reason: A teen's musculoskeletal system is still developing, and unsupervised gym time without a proper plan or guidance can sometimes not align with adolescents' structural proportions.
The Action: Encourage things like yoga or bodyweight strengthening to build neuromuscular control and to improve balance and coordination. Or book a session with a trained professional (why not a physio at Comox Physio, for example?) to put together an appropriate strengthening program.
4. Break Workouts into Shorter "Snacks" to Beat the Heat
The Reason: A single, gruelling midday workout during peak heat hours (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.) drastically increases the risk of heat illness.
The Action: Split daily movement into two shorter sessions, such as an early-morning bike ride and an evening walk. This keeps the body consistently active while avoiding the physiological strain of peak summer temperatures.
5. Gamify Everyday Tasks
The Reason: Most parents understand that giving a direct command to do anything (including exercise) can often meet with resistance from independent-minded teenagers.
The Action: Introduce active habits by substituting driving with cycling or skateboarding, or by assigning active yard chores. You can also suggest using wearable fitness trackers to let them monitor their personal metrics, turning movement into an independent, tech-integrated game.
Don’t have teens yet? We have tips for those with younger children, too! Summer activity for younger kiddos should focus on fundamental movement skills, physical safety, and play. We want to foster balance and core strength while protecting the growth plates in this age group. Consider these ideas:
1. Build Dynamic Obstacle Courses
The Reason: Younger children need to develop "physical literacy," which includes balance, agility, and spatial awareness.
The Action: Use backyard items like cushions, lawn chairs, and hula hoops to create a custom course. Incorporate tasks that require crawling, jumping with two feet, balancing on one leg, and changing directions quickly to build full-body coordination.
2. Move Like Our Animal Friends
The Reason: Developing core and upper-body strength is vital for early posture, but traditional exercises can sometimes be too advanced or boring for this age group.
The Action: Turn strength-building into a game by practicing animal movements. Have them frog-hop (for lower-body power), bear-crawl (for shoulder stability), or crab-walk (for core and wrist strength), which naturally conditions the musculoskeletal system through play.
3. Splash Around
The Reason: Young children overheat much faster than adults, making intense playground activity unsafe during midday summer heat.
The Action: Utilize backyard sprinklers, splash pads, pools, and beaches. Introduce games like water-bucket relays, diving for sinking toys, or treading water, which provide safe cardiovascular exercise while helping them maintain a regulated core body temperature.
4. Practice Unstable Surface Play
The Reason: Walking exclusively on flat, paved surfaces limits the development of ankle stability and deep stabilizing core muscles.
The Action: Encourage kids to move on natural, uneven terrains like sandy beaches, grassy hills, or hiking trails with tree roots. Navigating these surfaces forces the brain and muscles to adapt, significantly improving long-term balance and reducing the risk of future injury.
5. Go Barefoot
The Reason: Wearing rigid running shoes constantly can weaken the small muscles in a child's developing foot arch.
The Action: Set up safe, indoor or grassy outdoor barefoot games. Have them try to pick up marbles or small toys with their toes, or scrunch up a towel using only their feet, which actively builds foot strength, dexterity, and healthy arches.
One final thought: Kids and teens learn by example, so be sure to get out there and be active with them if you can. Get creative, be safe, and have fun!
