Workouts for kids: how they improve fitness, self-confidence and interpersonal skills
Tertius Steyn’s holistic approach to exercise allows children to develop physical strength as well as social and emotional learning. Meanwhile, One Ten offers workouts for young people in exchange for voluntary work
As Tertius Steyn bounces around an exercise studio at Goji Studios in Whampoa, Kowloon, his young pupils excitedly gather around him, eager to find out what their gym trainer will challenge them to do next.
Instead of lifting heavy weights or running on a treadmill like adult gym-goers, children enrolled in the Generation Goji programme learn to leap, land, roll, throw, catch and run using child-friendly equipment, such as a 20-metre-long inflatable runway and soft boxes.
Steyn was brought in by Goji last summer to devise a children’s fitness programme. At 10 sessions for HK$1,300, the programme is currently available in three Goji locations: Whampoa, Warrior (in Sai Ying Pun), and Causeway Bay for two age brackets: three to seven, and eight to 11.
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Tall, loud and bearded, the larger-than-life Steyn lumbers around the room at the Whampoa gym like a troll from a children’s book, making his young participants squeal with excited laughter as he chases them and comically falls onto the soft mat. It’s eight-year-old Annabel’s first time, but she shows no sign of nervousness as she leaps around and attempts to perform a standing jump on a box more than half her height as her mother, Alice Lo Wai-har, looks on.
“Hong Kong students can get so stressed, so after homework I want her to be free,” says Lo, exclaiming “Wow! She’s never done that before,” as her daughter executes a near-perfect forward roll. “We’ve never practised rolling at home – there’s barely space to lie down,” she adds.
Annabel has one PE lesson per week at the all-girls school she attends. Lo signed her up for Generation Goji not only to encourage her to let off steam, but also give her the opportunity to make friends with boys. Steyn’s style of coaching leverages what he describes as “a holistic approach” to exercise, encompassing social and emotional learning as well as developing physical strength, agility and posture “without fear of judgment”.