Will developing a love of exercise as a child only bring about physical benefits?

How teamwork helped me and my team compete at our best.

Something we teach the children we work with is teamwork, and we talk about it a lot  as it is one of our school games values. But as adults, just like them, we often fall into the trap of overthinking about ourselves and letting self doubt sink in. This can lead to a negative outcome when trying to work effectively as a team.

Myself and 3 others competed together in a teams competition in Manchester. Throughout the day we had to complete a series of events aimed at testing our strength, speed and stamina amongst other elements that determine ‘fitness’.

I was physically the smallest on our team and therefore couldn’t put up as high a score during the strength tests as the others. This made me very insecure on the day however my team supported me through each weight I lifted and I was able to match my PB in training.

 A similar situation unfolded later on in the day as a member of our team struggled with running and this next event featured 2 team runs. On the same day the Gym I was part of at the time had several other teams competing. Luckily for us, during this event we were positioned in a lane beside one of our other teams. Throughout the event they were cheering for us as well as themselves and vice versa because of this we were all able to rally around one and other to help her keep going and complete the event as a team all crossing the finishing line together!

Upon reflection the day wasn’t about shining as an individual but rather giving your best efforts as an individual to support those around you.

My blog today is going to start by sounding quite negative, but I will explain how I turned that negative involvement in sport, into a positive. 
Sport is, and always has been the biggest part of my life, from playing since I was in primary school, to moving up and playing for district and county teams in netball and cricket, I have also built myself a career in sport and soon to being going into teacher training. Sport for me was one of the only subjects at school I found a real love for, and to be honest, it was the only subject I was any good at. I was captain of the hockey, netball and rounders teams all the way through school, I then moved onto playing for West Cumbria Netball and for the County. I started to play for league teams in Workington and Whitehaven and at this point, all I wanted to do was have a career in netball. 

I moved to University after my A Levels, and I just presumed I would make it onto the 1st team, assuming I was at the top of my game. I really wasn't. My confidence disappeared into thin air, I had lost all coordination and fitness, my social skills were extremely at breaching point: I trialled and by the skin of my teeth made it onto the 5th team. I could not comprehend or understand this, I was absolutely gutted, I felt a complete failure and didn't even want to go to training. This is something I really was not used to. Before I moved to University, I played goal shooter or goal attack, at University I was moved to a centre court player or defender. I couldn't of got the ball into the net, even if it was 10 times the size. There was several times I almost quit, the pressure to keep my place in the team was too much and I had 0 confidence left whatsoever. 

However; I persevered, gave myself some positive encouragement, listened to my team mates and coaches and eventually by my 3rd year I was in the 3rd team. I had to accept that I had come from a small town, which lacked in resources, to play unless you travelled miles away. I had to accept if I was constantly putting myself down, constantly engaging in negative thinking and living in the 'fixed mindset', I was never going to get any better or get my confidence back. I ended up playing weekly, making friends and joining in at socials (all of which I hadn't done until my last year at Uni).

 I stopped putting pressure on myself and started to believe in myself. Since Uni, I haven't really had the opportunity to play for a team with other commitments, however I have set up 2 Netball now sessions, a walking netball session and volunteered to coach at West Cumbria Netball- to give back and help others onto the pathway into sport. I turned my negative thinking, into a positive step in the right direction. I now have a love for organising and running netball sessions for women who may lack in confidence, or have lack of opportunities to play netball. This is now my favourite involvement in sport to date.

We are now lucky enough to have a base at Cockermouth RUFC, where finally after the pandemic, we can go back to playing and get ourselves back into netball and fitness. We are hoping to make this facility accessible for all, see our crowdfunding page here:  https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/crufc-wasps-get-active-outdoors

There is always a positive in every negative, you just have to find it yourself sometimes!

At Chance Camp, our drive and commitment to exercise and sport has always come from the knowledge that physical activity will help to improve the development of young people as a whole and that as sport specialists we can help to encourage and develop lifelong positive physical activity habits.

One positive shift through the onslaught of the pandemic is the increased awareness and focus on improving physical activity levels across the nation! As you scroll through social media, browse through the papers and magazines or listen to broadcasts many are leading campaigns to get the government to do more regarding exercise provision. In addition, you can’t help but take in the vast amounts of information on the physical benefits of increasing exercise levels. However, there are so many more benefits to being physically active. The aim of this blog is to explore the other, sometimes hidden, benefits.

I have been reading a book Spark, by J. Ratey & E. Hagerman (2008) which provides case studies that prove there is a huge link between physical activity and learning. One outcome of such a case study is summarised in this quote from the book.

 “ When the students in Naperville go for a mile run in the gym before school, they are more prepared to learn in their classes: their senses are heightened; their focus and mood are improved; they’re less fidgety and tense; and they feel more motivated and invigorated .” (Ratey.J. & Hagerman.E. Spark, 2008). There are many more examples in the book all with similar outcomes.

Whilst reading the Sunday Telegraph another article grabbed my attention, ‘ Hormones change our bodies and affect our feelings- but the good news is our lifestyle choices can keep them in check! ’ (Ough. T, 11 Oct 2020).

I decided to explore the link between learning, hormone control, brain development and physical activity a little more.

Cognitive Development – Can physical activity strengthen and improve the brain as it does our muscles?

In schools, we try and promote the use of small bursts of exercise throughout the school day in addition to structured PE lessons.  

Exercise stimulates the production of endorphins, chemicals in the brain that are the body's natural painkillers and mood elevators. If our mood is elevated, we feel more motivated and are in a state where we can take in information and therefore in the case of children be able to understand what is being taught.

Cortisol can also be linked to our learning state, in the right levels it can improve focus and attention.   As with everything we talk about, it is a fine balance and if our levels of Cortisol become too high there will be negative effects. High levels of Cortisone can affect sleep and kill nerve cells in a vital part of the brain, the hippocampus, which is in control of memory and learning, this process is STRESS. More than ever we are seeing higher levels of stress in the population which is beginning to be seen in the higher numbers of children and adults having mental health issues. If our children are going to school feeling stressed or feel high levels of pressure in school, learning will be limited. Exercise has been proven to reduce levels of the body's stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. If our bodies and minds are less stressed our ability to focus and learn will be increased. Therefore, without doubt, what we need to do is allow children to be more physically active in the day. By allowing and encouraging children to move more they will naturally increase their attention and focus within the classroom and their ability to learn and memorise would be limitless.

Whilst some teachers encourage movement outside the perimeters of PE, for example through initiatives like Active Maths, Skip to be Fit and Activate, there is still a huge reluctance within the education system to embrace daily physical activity but hopefully as people’s understanding of physical activity improves and people in education start to see the undisputable link between learning and physical activity things may start to change.  

Creative Development – Can thinking positively and trying new things improve brain function?

I have tried reading about the brain and it’s a very complex read but basically, it’s an ever-changing organ based on how it is used. It is made up of billions of neurons all connected by synapses.   When we put ourselves in a position to learn new things, we create new synapses and then as we build confidence to continue this learning, the synapses strengthen and become programmed into our brain, making more and more connections.

I don’t believe our society is great for encouraging brain growth through creative development. Many people are deterred from being creative because of how they will be perceived by others or because of fear of failure. We also live in a society of quick fixes, everything these days is instant. As a result, it is often a challenge to keep children’s focus on an activity or motivate them to keep practising at home and instil in them that some things take time and you won’t always get it right the first, second or third time and that is normal. Perseverance is a key skill and it’s hard to learn, giving up is much easier. If we can change this culture, become bigger risk takers, learn to persever, see mistakes as part of the learning process, give ourselves chances to be more creative and learn new hobbies with a care-free attitude, I do believe we can improve our brain by strengthening the synapses and connections within it.

 

Social Development – Does making new relationships improve your self-confidence and motivation to succeed ?

Although this pandemic is driving exercise to be a solitary habit, I would recommend you take advantage of the exercise ‘with one other’ rule, in usual circumstances it’s a fantastic way to make new social connections.

Whether it’s running with a partner or as part of group or team sport, there is a feel-good factor associated by exercising with others.  There’s the added motivation to improve your own performance to benefit the whole team or to motivate and help the person you are exercising with, there’s also the competitive motivation; to be better than the opposition. Being motivated is linked to higher levels of self-confidence and generally a positive thought process. If we go back to the wiring of the brain in the above section, this self-motivation and a self-confidence to try new things and improve will help us create and strengthen the synapses and connections in our brain allowing for improved brain function.  

A positive thought process leads to optimism, being optimistic will encourage us to grab new opportunities that may come our way and over time master new skills and be successful. An amazing team leader once said to me ‘Success breeds success!’ Never has a saying stuck with me so much. Once you get one success you are motivated to go back for more! Also, particularly in team sports, people want to be part of that success and so more people join the club and we go right back to the start and form new relationships.

Personal Development - Do good lifestyle choices lead to brain growth?

Let’s put this into an equation

MOTIVATION to MOVE more + choosing NATURAL FOODS over processed food + increased RELAXTION and SLEEP = Improved health & wellbeing

Parents often thank me for the peace they get in the evenings after their child has attended Chance Camp. The physical benefits are seen first (improved stamina, strength, speed combined with the feel-good endorphins kicking in). Then the unseen benefits, brain development due to being sociable, working as a team, being successful, feeling motivated and improved confidence. Once the child is at home they tend to be calmer (due to reduced levels of cortisone), ready to eat nutritious food because they have expended so much energy in the day and go to sleep earlier because their bodies are tired from physical effort. All the above will be lead to brain growth and improved brain function as outlined earlier.

On the flip side of the coin, there are people who for whatever reason are not making the decision to move more, eat well and have poor patterns of sleep, along with that lifestyle comes a whole raft of negative consequences to a person’s physical and mental health.

We have discussed the effects of exercise on brain growth, but diet is a huge factor as well! This is probably better left for another blog but put simply, we should try and eat a balanced diet for many reasons. Diabetes has been another hot topic through Covid-19 as people with diabetes are considered more vulnerable to the negative impacts of the virus. Insulin helps regulate blood sugar levels. After you eat, carbohydrates break down into glucose, a sugar that is the body's  primary source of energy. Glucose then enters the bloodstream and it’s important we expend this energy via movement. If our bodies contain high levels of insulin over time this can lead to anxiety, fatigue, obesity, irritability, high blood pressure and even some cancers.

 

So, going back to the equation at the top, if we have young people who are not reaching their activity levels, eating a highly processed diet that contains too much sugar or carbohydrates and have poor sleep patterns we have a ticking time bomb on our hands. We are already seeing higher numbers of Type 2 diabetes and it is not an improving picture.   As an aside, research around Alzheimer's Disease is now also showing the positive effects of being active and having a good diet on this dreadful disease (again one for another blog).

 

I hope this blog has made you interested in doing your own research on the positive impacts of exercise. It certainly wasn’t meant to sound like I was preaching, as I was writing the blog it made me consider some of my own lifestyle choices and the choices we make as a family.

Exercise doesn’t just make us stronger and fitter the benefits are endless, in fact I’ve only scratched the surface in this blog. In 2021, we hope young people can try as many different physical activities as possible. Once restrictions allow, join a new sport’s team or push for new sport’s teams to be formed. Once you find what works for you, preserve (even when it’s tough) and see the long-term benefits, don’t treat exercise, nutrition and sleep as quick fixes, see them as a daily medicine to your long-term health & wellbeing…

 

Footnote -

At Chance Camp we are backing the Telegraph’s ‘Keep Kids Active’ Campaign who are lobbying the government with high profile sport’s stars support such as Mo Farrah. The key parts are to:

·      Implement a mandatory virtual physical education curriculum

·      Create a centralised online hub with age-related activities and advice for parents

·      Prioritise opening kids’ activities at the earliest opportunity

·      Deliver a plan to put PE on a par with core subjects when schools return

·      Open school facilities as community hubs during holidays to help close the social divide.

We hope this campaign has a successful outcome it will certainly accelerate our drive to use PE and Sport to impact on whole child development.

We all know that regular physical activity is one of the most important things that you can do for your own health. There are so many physical benefits from exercising regularly, such as helping you maintain a healthy weight- by burning off those excess calories. It helps to keep a healthy heart and reduce the risk of having heart disease, stroke, blood pressure & cholesterol. It also helps to protect and maintain strong muscles, bones and joints which allows us all to lead a healthy happy life! Research suggests (Hirvensalo & Lintunen, 2011) that playing and enjoying sports/ exercise from an early age can lead to a lifetime of participating in physical activity. This would help someone remain healthy throughout their life, and reduce the risk of any of the health issues listed above. My earliest memories is me being taken to lots of different sports clubs as a child. Although over the years I decided not to continue in some, I have in others- and believe I will continue to for the rest of my life.

However there are so so many more benefits other then physical. One is mental (brain health). It’s commonly known that exercise is effective in treating anxiety, relieving stress and tension, clearing someone’s mind and helping improve someone’s sleep. By exercising, your brain releases chemicals such as dopamine and endorphins which trigger the positive feeling in your body. These act as mood boosters which improve your mindset. So much so that studies suggest the exercise can treat mild- moderate depression just as effective as antidepressant medication. A recent study done by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that running for 15 minutes a day or walking for an hour reduces the risk of major depression by 26%.

When exercising more blood travels to the brain, sending more and more oxygen & nutrients. This can help stimulate growth which in turn can lead to improving long & short term memory, thinking and overall brain function.

I know a lot of schools in the past & still do implement the daily mile challenge, where children walk, skip and run for a one mile first thing in a morning. One reason for the physical benefits it provides the children, but the other is from the mental benefits- where it wakes children up, allows them to focus on their work and sharpens their minds for the day ahead.

Another would be the social aspect that playing sport provides. It allows children to meet new people, develop new friendships and helps improve social skills when communicating and speaking to other people that they’ll need in later life. For me personally some of my closest friends have come from playing sport with & against and I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to get to know them without doing so. It also provides personal benefits. As a child, going to clubs to train to improve at your own skills, to compete against other people or teams can help build up a determination and work ethic that is required as an adult in order to achieve in life- whether that be competing against others to get the job or having the drive in order to complete a task.

It just shows how important sport & exercise is, and how the many different ways it can have an impact on someone’s life.

As we enter another year we also enter another national lockdown. The lockdown's purpose is to work together in staying at home as much as possible to help save lives and protect the NHS during these testing times. All of us here at Wright Sport Services/Chance Camp hope that you are all staying safe and well and are hopeful we will be able to see you all again soon. In the meantime we hope that your families lockdown experiences are keeping you active at home. This half terms blog is going to discuss why developing a love of exercise at a young age will bring about not only physical benefits but a great deal of mental and social benefits too.

We are currently experiencing some of the most testing times any of us have faced in our lifetime, during which many young people are facing various emotional encounters that are unavoidable, such as feeling disconnected from friends and family and an anxiety of going outdoors amongst many others. It is important that children and young people are made aware that these feelings are perfectly normal and should be provided with methods of helping ease these unsettling feelings; and it should come as no surprise that exercise is one of them! Research by Mayo Clinic found that those who take part in 3 or more aerobic based exercise activities each week felt more relaxed, had lower symptoms of anxiety and depression, experienced a more positive outlook and had better sleep patterns than those who participated in less aerobic based exercise activities. An improvement in our sleep quality can raise concentration levels meaning an overall improvement in academic performance, leading to boosts in confidence/self esteem levels. This is because when we exercise our brain releases neurotransmitters known as endorphins, or in simple terms, feel-good hormones, these help to boost our mood and create a more positive mindset. This research has been backed up by the Institute of Medicine (2013), who found that exercise helps to increase basic cognitive functions by connecting neurons in the brain leading to an increased level of memory, attention and concentration in the classroom. The research also found that this increase in brain function following physical activity, resulted in an increase in the overall thinking ability of children and improved problem solving abilities, particularly in reading and mathematics. This research should be a key consideration to help young people who are currently experiencing home-schooling and also the parents and carers of those young people who are providing home-schooling.

We hope that it won’t be too long now until schools reopen and PE is back, grassroot sport returns and gyms/leisure facilities are able to run as normal again. And when this does happen, children and young people will be able to continue to be active and social once more. Sport and physical activity are key to developing not only physical motor skills, but also what is known as “soft skills”, these are skills such as competitiveness, teamwork, leadership, risk taking, confidence, communication skills, ethics and positive attitude. These skills are often overlooked in day to day life, however they are the key skills that employers look for when hiring. Being able to possess these skills creates a positive character, and a positive character breeds success.

For some at home activity ideas please click on the link below for 5 weeks of challenges designed to get the whole family moving!

https://www.chancecamp.co.uk/lockdown-3-chance-camps-5s-pe-programme-at-home

Physical activity has countless health benefits for children and adults.  It not only improves a child’s overall health and fitness but it can massively improve their overall wellness such as their attitude, mental health, behaviour, concentration and cognitive development as well.

Speaking from my own experience at first hand with my own children, who are ages 8 years and 7 years. My daughter used to really lack confidence, she would not try things in the fear of getting it wrong or not being able to do it correctly. After a lot of perseverance and keeping things simple and fun, she will now have a go at anything, and has found passion for swimming, gymnastic, dance and running, but more importantly will give everything she tries 100% effort. Now this didn’t happen overnight, but by making physical activities a daily routine and keeping it fun and still challenging, it grew her confidence and social skills immensely.

My son has always been incredibly sporty and everything came very natural to him and more of an ease. He can literally run like a rocket going off! He has always loved nothing more than to be outside on the go, often with a ball! By attending Chance Camp where he got to try numerous challenges and different sports, it improved his social skills and motivated him to be more independent. It would challenge and push him to do his best and he would come home so happy and literally buzzing about it all. So not only did it lift his mood, he ate very well and also slept well, so a win win all round!

So I see daily what impact of children having daily physical exercise really does do to our children. By making it a big part of your child’s and family’s routine makes your children happy and smile from inside to out! It makes them feel so much better in themselves, by boosting their confidence and improving their self esteem to concentrating and learning; eating and sleeping improves also.

There is no better time to start than now, to get out and get moving! Soaking up some fresh air is a great way of unwinding, and letting off some steam from home schooling!

Try and find activities that make your children happy, and even connect as a family and remember to make it fun! Active children is not only healthier children, but happier children.

With everything that’s happened this year with the pandemic (being in lockdown, maintaining social distance and sticking to bubbles) it can be difficult for children to complete their daily exercise. The pandemic could also be used as an excuse for not taking part in daily activity. However in all of my schools that I’ve been in, I’ve seen good practice and rules adapted in order to help children keep active.

Unfortunately in the North West we don’t have the warmest of weather- especially this time of year! And with some schools having their halls unavailable it’s meant most of my delivery has had to be outside. However the weather hasn’t prevented any lessons from not going ahead! Special mention to years 3, 4 & 6 at Maryport Primary that have faced all the elements on Thursday mornings this term and continued to be active in the lessons! Just shows that weather is no barrier to sport. And credit to the schools for not cancelling!

In most schools I’ve noticed that different bubble groups have different playtime slots, giving children the opportunity to still be outside, running around, playing games whilst still only having contact with their bubble. In Silloth & Maryport Primary schools, children in each bubble have their own set of playtime equipment- that only those children can use. This helps to give a variety of different games & activities to play.

In Silloth Primary school, netball & basketball court lines were painted on the playground over the summer, with new netball and basketball posts bought and set up to be used every day in lunch/ play times. When we returned to school in September, the Key Stage 2 classes were taught the skills, rules and different netball/ basketball games to play- so that they could then replicate them during their own break times.

In Dean Primary school, a lot of the teachers and children were following & still are completing the daily Chance Camp challenges that are uploaded to our Facebook & website pages. These challenges range from testing physical fitness, skill and coordination. From completing and repeating the different challenges the children’s fitness and skill levels have improved with skipping being the main one!

Finally this half term, for the first time I delivered Sports Leadership training to Fell View Primary School. The yr 5&6 class took on the role of leading activities, coming up with rules, officiating and finding ways to maintain fair play during games which they all did brilliantly. This will help the class come up with different games and activities during their own playtimes- providing a way for the class to be active. Ellie is currently doing the same in Dean Primary School and it was great to hear today that the children & staff that she’s been working with are listening to her advice, activities & games and are replicating them during their breaks & playtimes. Well done to them!