The Basic Physical Abilities Your Children Should Strengthen

Knowing about basic physical abilities will help you strengthen muscles and improve your children's psychomotor development.

As a mother, it’s likely that, unknowingly, you overlook some of the needs of your children regarding their physical development. Within this aspect are the basic physical abilities, which are fundamental during the infant stage.

Childhood stands out as one of the most important stages for the human being. It’s considered a sensitive time for knowledge and psychomotor development.

With that in mind, it’s important to know what the most relevant aspects are, which you as a parent should emphasize in order to achieve a timely development in your children.

Undoubtedly, basic physical abilities are considered one of the most important aspects to develop and strengthen. Do you know what they are?

What are basic physical abilities?

Physical abilities in general are a series of skills that are present in all people, which are necessary when performing any type of motor task. Although they can function individually, they usually complement each other and are required as a whole, depending on the activity to be developed.

Regarding basic capacities, we can say that there are 4 types and they’re present from childhood. These are strength, endurance, speed, and flexibility.

Basically, each person has these types of physical capacities from very early stages in life. However, it’s important to strengthen them in a precise and adequate way.

Strength

Strength is the physical capacity of the body to overcome resistance and is manifested through various muscular contractions. It should be noted that this type of capacity is evidenced against static or dynamic resistance.

Although there are claims that oppose strength work in children, the developing body requires the stimulation of this capacity.

Endurance

Endurance refers to the period of time within which you can perform a physical activity before reaching your fatigue limit. In children, it’s interesting, as it’s rare to see them fatigued after running and playing for hours.

However, this capacity must also be adequately and continuously stimulated during childhood.

Speed

Speed is the ability to perform one or more actions in the shortest possible time and with high efficiency. Although most capacities come to function in a specific way, speed requires the other skills, especially strength, to be performed correctly.

Flexibility

Flexibility, on the other hand, focuses on the ability of a joint or series of joints to move through an unrestricted, pain-free range of motion. The higher this ability, the lower the likelihood of injury.

Strengthening basic physical skills

Overlooking the strengthening of basic physical skills in children is more common than you might imagine. This happens due to parents’ lack of knowledge on the subject.

It’s even believed that these types of skills can only be developed and strengthened in adulthood.

However, one of the main functions of school physical education is focused on the development of these types of skills. It should be noted that, although the school plays a fundamental role in this area, as a mother, you should remain aware and contribute to its development.

Implement a variety of activities

Beyond school activities, try to implement a series of extracurricular activities, which favor psychomotor development in children. Try to ensure that these alternatives are varied and focus on stimulating each physical capacity.

Avoid specific exercises that involve direct commands. Generally, children of different ages lose motivation when it comes to repetitive movements that require direct orders.

A good option in this regard is sports, especially those that your children can choose. However, we recommend you resort to swimming, cycling, running, soccer, among many others.

Search for appropriate environments

Physical or sports activities focused on strengthening basic physical abilities require an appropriate environment for their development.

As a mother, one of the main objectives is to make your child feel motivated, supported, and, above all, safe. For this reason, look for appropriate environments for each activity or sports practice and avoid areas that offer minimal security or are unkempt.

Get advice from a professional

Perhaps you have enough motivation to want to stimulate and strengthen your children, but your knowledge on the subject is basic or nonexistent.

At this point, the best thing to do is to get advice from a professional in children’s physical education. Based on this advice, you could plan the activities and obtain guidelines that can contribute to your children’s development.

Why strengthen the basic capacities in children?

Apart from the importance on a psychomotor level, the basic physical capacities contribute great value to the healthy aspect of the children.

If the four capacities are worked in a correct way, it’s probable that your children will diminish the probabilities of injuring themselves.

On the other hand, their health will also be benefited, as systems such as the cardiac and the respiratory systems will be strengthened by means of developing resistance. In addition, your child’s visceral organs will be better protected and their metabolism will also be able to increase its rhythm.