London – If you’re struggling to stay active, there’s a trend one gym chain is hoping will make working out feel more like game time.
“Welcome to the joke! Come in, come in!” said trainer Rachel Dennis as she greeted people coming out the door at the David Lloyd gym in Enfield, north London, recently.
“We’re going to play ‘Stuck in the Mud’,” she announced. Screams and laughter quickly filled the room as the tagged players froze like statues until others crawled through their legs to “free” them to run around again.
Kidulting fitness classes are all about channelling your inner child, and the atmosphere is fun, even silly.
“How’s the heart rate? Are we feeling a little warm?” Dennis asked as the pace increased.
At the David Lloyd Club in the UK, members can relive their younger years with classes built around playground and PE class games – an attempt to take the “work” out of workouts.
Pran Varatharajan celebrated when he grabbed another classmate’s leg and pushed him in a wheelbarrow race.
The pace is fast, and kids quickly move on to the next game.
“Who remembers parachutes?” Dennis asked, holding up a huge piece of colourful cloth. “If you’re yellow, you’ll be… shall we be bananas?” he said while appointing the teams.
The classes bring back many favourite childhood games – games that most people haven’t played since elementary school.
After running back and forth on the clothesline, it was time for a quick round of “popcorn”, with the adults hissing at the parachute to keep the coloured balls bouncing.
During a quick break, class member Sophie Do told CBS News that her heart was beating rapidly. She particularly enjoyed parachute and said that she had not played some sports since she was seven or eight years old.
“It’s the joy of being a kid as an adult,” David Lloyd Enfield’s personal trainer Keelan Edwards said of the kids’ trend when he let a CBS News reporter test out the “Joyride”, an exercise bike that looks like an iconic Little Tikes Cosy Coupe.
He said, “Many people find it very laborious to get used to exercise before they can turn it into a habit. But that’s because they are missing the fun element of it.” “We’re trying to replicate the memories that you might have had during your childhood in a one-of-a-kind, gym-based environment.”
“What time is it, Mr Wolf?” Dennis called to his class.
“Dinner time!” They shouted as they ran quickly across the floor.
“I think in a way it gives you a chance to reminisce; it also gives you a chance to revisit a period of your life that you thought was gone and wouldn’t come back,” Varatharajan said.
Trainers say having a baby never gets old, and scientists seem to agree, with research showing that when exercise is fun, people are far more likely to make it a habit.
The US National Institutes of Health says that adults who engage in playful, child-like activities report better cognitive function and memory as they age
