The Tamesis
london – If you’ve been struggling to stay active, one fitness chain is hoping a trend will make working out feel more like play.
“Welcome to Kiddie! Come in, come in!” trainer Rachel Dennis said as she greeted people at the door of David Lloyd Gym in Enfield, north London, recently.
“We’re going to play ‘Stuck in the Mud,'” she announced. Screams and laughter soon filled the room, and the tagged players froze like statues until someone else crawled over their legs, “liberating” them and allowing them to run again.
Kids fitness classes are designed to channel your inner child, and the atmosphere is fun and even a little silly.
“How’s the heart rate? Are we feeling a little warmer?” Dennis asked, quickening his pace.
At the David Lloyd Club in the UK, members can relive their youth with classes built around playground and PE games – in an effort to take the “work” out of exercise.
Pran Varatharajan cheered as he lifted another classmate’s leg and pushed her in a unicycle race.
The pace was fast and the kids were quickly on to the next game.
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“Who remembers the parachute?” Dennis asked, holding up the huge piece of colorful fabric. “If you’re yellow, you’re going to…should we be bananas?” she said, assigning teams.
The classes bring back a range of favorite childhood games – games that most people haven’t played since elementary school.
After running back and forth on the fabric, it was time for a quick round of “popcorn,” with the adults huffing and puffing while letting the colorful balls bounce around on the parachute.
During a brief break, class member Sophie Doe told CBS News her heart was racing. She especially loved parachutes and said she hadn’t played some of them since she was seven or eight years old.
Kielan Edwards, David Lloyd Enfield’s personal trainer, explained this kid-boosting trend by letting a CBS News reporter try out the “Joyride,” a repurposed exercise bike that looks like an iconic Little Tikes Cozy Coupe.
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“Many people find it very taxing to get used to this type of exercise before turning it into a habit. But that’s because they forget about the fun element of it,” he says. “We’re trying to replicate those memories you might have had when you were younger in a more gym-like environment.”
“What time is it, Mr. Wolfe?” Denise called to her class.
“It’s dinner time!” they yelled in response, sprinting across the floor.
“I think it just gives you a chance to reminisce and relive a part of your life that you thought was gone,” Varatarajan said.
Trainers say coaxing works because kids never get old, and scientists seem to agree, with studies showing that people are more likely to develop an exercise habit when it’s fun.
The National Institutes of Health says adults who engage in fun, childlike activities have better cognitive function and memory as they age.
