Time and again I have spoken about stopping “excessive” aerobic (cardiovascular) exertion because it will never benefit you from a health stand-point. Well, I’m not talking to the athletes from whom there is a demand for high cardiovascular fitness (not that it is good for them either) from whatever sport they participate in. But if you’re not an athlete, all of that aerobic over-exertion is a big waste of time and effort and is also counterproductive, and you will find that out soon. However, this article is not about you but about your child. From a health stand-point, your child’s heart work capacity doesn’t need to improve. Every child is aerobically fit and completely fine, except for those with congenital cardiovascular concerns in which case there are lifetime limitations to aerobic exertion. The aerobic/cardiovascular fitness level of your child is not defined by the outcome of some silly fitness drills/fitness related events. Too many parents fail to understand that these fitness related programs/ activities/events are offered by those who don’t care about your child. These people are simply concerned about themselves and their company’s success at the cost of your child’s unnecessary physical and mental exertion.  Parents also forget that their child is just a child. And children are not supposed to be put through high physical demands at that age. Parents hoping for their children to make it big in sports enroll their young children for training at a very early age.  However, scientific evidence shows that early physical exertion is not only not required to make it to the highest level in many sports, but should be actively avoided. A 2011 study of 243 Danish athletes found that early training was either entirely unnecessary or actually detrimental to ultimate development. Most children mature by the age of seventeen or eighteen. This is the age when they can begin to see that they have a future in sport and only than progressively increase the physical training intensities.

There are reports that claim that the well known PACER test was banned due to multiple hospitalizations of children. Although this claim isn’t yet validated by any organization, there has been controversy surrounding this test. On the one hand research suggests that excessive exertion is detrimental to health, on the other hand excessive aerobic exertion is promoted via fitness routines and events by those in the health and fitness industry. See the irony here? Nevertheless let’s look at what exactly a PACER test is.Keep reading if you are interested in your child’s health. The Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that gets progressively more difficult as it continues. The test involves continuous running. It is a maximal aerobic fitness test. The 20-meter PACER test begins with a slow running speed that is increased with each minute marked by a buzzer. One full lap must be completed each time you hear this sound. One must run as long as possible. The second time you fail to complete a lap before the sound, your test is over.

See how aerobically demanding and stressful this test is on a child’s cardiovascular system? And if reports are to be believed, it took multiple hospitalizations of children for them to realize that this test is causing problems to the children’s health. And if the claims are false, we can still analyze how aerobically stressful this test can be. So the question is, do we wait until a child gets hurt as a result of such stressful and aerobically demanding activities in the name of health and fitness? Or do we consider the advice of those who understand the consequences of such risky physical activities and not do it in the first place? 

The reason I’m writing this article is to make you aware of such unnecessary risky physical activities that are harming your child’s health. I’ve been in the fitness industry for many years and I have witnessed the good, the bad and the ugly of this “commercially growing industry”. Last year I witnessed a young athlete collapse at one of these aerobically demanding fitness events. In another incident I came across a video of an illiterate fitness trainer falsely motivating a young boy in his early teens to run up numerous flights of stairs continuously while the child was gasping. But this fool (I don’t even want to call him a fitness trainer) keeps telling the young kid that he’s doing good and keeps pushing him even more. As I went through the comments on this video post, I saw a comment from the parent of this child thanking the trainer for his child’s fitness. Only time will tell them the damage that is being done to their child’s physiology, or they may never know when future health issues arise that these are in fact due to this chronic stress from the child’s younger days. There are some gyms, trainers and nutritionists out there offering programs to increase your child’s height. Can you believe that? These quacks are making a lot of money off these programs. By the way, the only method to increase the height of a short kid is by surgically cutting the limbs. The details of this procedure are out of the scope of this article.

Having said that, we all know that it is important that your child needs to remain healthy. So avoiding physical activities is definitely not beneficial. The solution lies in balancing moderate physical exertion, balanced nutrition, recovery and increasing training intensities at the right age. And therefore they must eat nutritious meals to provide firstly for their growth, and additional food to provide for the physical activity. From a physical activity stand point a child must simply get into playing sports. Let them have fun, and let them be happy. Let them learn the skills of the sport rather than the exertion. Let your child experience all kinds of sports until they can decide which one they have a future in specifically, and only then start training competitively. Until then let them enjoy normal healthy growth without psychological or physical over-exertion.

The content in this article is the result of application of exercise physiology, research data, my experiences and observations as a coach. I have interacted with young athletes and worked closely with them on their training intensities, nutrition and recovery. It is ultimately your choice as a parent what you decide for your child. 

In the next article I will address some of the consequences of “excessive” physical exertion on your child’s health.