The Railyard Depot Blog

How To Introduce Your Child to Youth Fitness and Exercise

2011-12-27T15:55:00.000-08:00

The Railyard isan exciting and fun way to introduce children to exercise. Youth fitness and exercise is increasingly important as obesity continues to climb and physical education programs continue to see less support. The Railyardis an excellent way to get children to exercise while offering a program investment with a great return on investment.

The Railyard is a modern day obstacle course that inspireschildren to want to participate in youth fitness and exercise. TheRailyard incorporates natural movements while using the course to create different obstacles. Childrenwill climb up and over obstacles, crawl under them, and zig zag aroundthem. These are fun, natural play like movements that can be easily donein small groups.

With a fun and educational program, children will also learn the value of exercise without it seeminglike “exercise.” There is no question, the Railyard is rewarding, fun,and play like, and enjoyment is a priority for any type of exercise program in order to stay engaging. Having a child walk on a treadmill or jump rope will cause most kids to become bored very quickly and to lose interest. It is the naturalactivities of climbing, skipping, crawling over and under fun obstacles thatwill keep a child's attention.

There are many more benefits to youth fitness and exercise then first meet the eye. Many benefits of youth fitness have recently been proven by John J. Ratey. Ratey is a HarvardUniversity clinical professor of psychiatry and states that "Memory retention andlearning functions are all about brain cells actually changing, growing, andworking better together," and he states that "Exercise creates thebest environment for that process to occur."

So, the Railyard is not only an ideal tool for learning, but also promotesimproved attention span, concentration, coordination and balance, as well asreducing stress and improving the effects of attention-deficithyperactivity disorder. More interestingly the intellectualimprovements resulting from exercise surpasse socioeconomic variances, race,and family income. The better the exercise program the higher the academic scores, regardless of these other factors.

Indoors or out,the Railyard is the perfect way to establish a fun exercise routine that is alot more like play and a lot less like work. Your child will look forwardto doing the Railyard on a day to day basis! Certainly, there will be significantlyless complaints about getting out to exercise when your child has the Railyardto look forward to and not a boring routine of pushups or a treadmill. Parents and children alike will benefit from the joy aswell as the rewards your child will receive from the Railyards form of playexercise.

5 Main Fitness Uses of the Railyard Indoor Obstacle Course

2011-12-27T15:44:00.000-08:00

You want thestrength of a marine? The agility of a star athlete? Do you want a workout thattaps into your own creativity and transforms exercise into a display ofpersonality? If you're thinking yes, than you need to learn about working out on an indoor RailyardObstacle Course. What follows are the 5 main uses of this system.

Strength
Anyone can get big muscles by power lifting. Although just because you have bigmuscles, does not necessarily mean you are strong. With the endless workoutpossibilities in your Railyard, you will getdense muscles that can work under many different circumstances. Science informs us that dense muscles are stronger and moreeffective when needed for raw strength.

Balance
Balance is a skill most exercises either barely touch or forget all together.Anytime you are on a Railyard beam, your balance is constantly being tested.The tops of the Railyard’s connecting beams are specially designed to forceyour body to become unstable and therefore entice your core to correct theimbalance.

Cardio
When you think of the ultimate test of physical endurance, what institution hasthe most effective example? Thats right, the United States military. In themilitary, recruits are required to leap over and crawl under largewood beams. This repetitious climbing motion is great at getting your heartrate up, allowing you to burn calories quick. Your Railyard can be used in theexact same way without the need of logs, dirt or the outdoors.

Versatility
This exercise system is unlike any other. Not only can you exercise like aseasoned athlete or scout sniper, but when you are done, the Railyard caneasily be stored away. If you have a gym or large room, beams can be placed inrandom configurations. The absolute brilliance to the Railyard’s design is thatit's not permanent.

Creativity
All exercise systems are dependant on you wanting to and actually followingthrough with the workout. The Railyard Indoor Obstacle Course allows you tocreate any type of course you want and is only limited by your imagination.Imagine an entire room full of Railyard beams. A maze of blue and grey thatseems to go on forever. You could have contests to see not only who could getthrough a set of obstacles the fastest, but also who could design the toughestset of obstacles.

The Railyard Indoor Obstacle Course is one of the most ingenious, effective andoddly enough, exciting exercise systems on the market. Its design is simple yetallows you or your clients to actually enjoy working out. Everyone knows thatthe more enjoyable an action is, the more your going to want to repeat it.

The Importance of Functional Strength Training For Youth

2011-11-29T11:02:00.000-08:00

The Games They Already Play: Fun Youth Fitness and Exercise Programs UsingFunctional Fitness

Despite our best efforts, childhood obesityrates continue to rise. Many factors contribute to this, but surely one of themost important factors is a lack of exercise. According to the Center forDisease Control, children and adolescents should do roughly an hour of aerobicexercise a day to stay healthy. Yet in recent years, less than a quarterof our school children actually do that. And as our children live increasinglysanitary, boxed-in, always-wired lives, it's little wonder that they don't findtime to exercise. But, that can be changed.

If you're someone who's concernedby this and would like to help do something about it, one of the easiest thingsto promote among children is functional fitness training.

Simply put, functional fitness is about usingthe body itself as training equipment. There's no need for weights or complexmachinery that can be dangerous for children. Basically, it's about lettingchildren play like children already do! Stop by a playground sometime, andwatch the kids. What do they do? They climb things. They crawl under things.They run. They play balancing games. Done properly, these are all totally validforms of exercise. Put into a structured setting, these simple activities canbe turned into effective youth fitness and exercise programs.

And best of all, they're FUN! The kids arealready doing these things by themselves. They just need a little help from youto make sure they stay on-task and get the exercise they need. Something likean obstacle course like The Railyard Obstacle Course can be the perfect solution to this. Withsome boxes to jump on and off of, and some balance boards to walk across andcrawl under, just about any area can be turned into a ready-made childhoodfunctional fitness center in a matter of minutes.

So what do the children get out of this?Besides getting to do the things they already enjoy, strength training amongchildren helps them get the most out of their growing bodies. Younger childrendon't put on muscle mass from training like adults do, but what it does do forthem is train their brains to use their bodies effectively. A child's brain hasto learn to use their body's muscles, and these sorts of exercises are perfectfor doing that. Whether they're your own children, your students, or yourclients, these simple activities unlock the potential within their own bodies. Thehealth benefits will be immediate, but will last a lifetime.

Even though childhood obesity and inactivityrates can be worrisome, it turns out that the simplest of youth fitness andexercise programs can be the most beneficial. You can help make a differenceand make life better for our children both today, and for the rest of theirlives.http://www.railyardfitness.com

Create A Successful Youth Fitness and Conditioning Program

2011-11-28T11:12:00.000-08:00

With the rise injuvenile obesity, physical fitness in schools and other places where childrenfrequent is even more important. To help keep children at a healthy weight toreduce the risks of weight-related diseases, such as diabetes and heartproblems, you can implement a youth fitness and exercise program using specialfitness equipment that makes exercise fun, as well as effective.

Far too many children spend time in front of video games, computers andtelevisions instead of physical activity outside. Running around outsidedoesn't seem to be as fun to children as electronic stimulation. Therefore, itis up to you to make it fun for the children so they would rather participatein physical activity than sit inside in front of the television.

Equipment

The most important part of a youth fitness and exercise initiative is toprovide fitness equipment that is child-friendly and offers a range of funactivities for the children. For instance, children love running obstaclecourses. If you purchase fitness equipment that resembles an obstacle course,you will find the children love racing against their friends to see who canfinish the course the fastest. This physical activity of running, climbing,jumping, crawling, hanging and balancing is fun, which results in anenthusiastic desire to participate. The Railyard Obstacle Course system makes it easy to create diverse obstacle courses in any space, that are easy to store and transport.

For younger children, a simple youth fitness and exercise routine ona play mat works great. The Playtangle is an award winning, class format, exercise program for children from age 3 through 6. Specialized music and videos talk children throughthe steps of the routine, encouraging them to move in age-appropriate ways thatprovide them with the exercise they need without having to go outside. Childrenare encouraged to hop and jump. These exercises can also help children withlogical skills, such as number recognition and counting.

Importance

Implementing a youth fitness and exercise program into the daily routine ofchildren encourages them to keep moving. Even though many children have a highmetabolism and can stay at a healthy weight fairly easily, if they don'texercise, they won't learn the importance and fun of it. Encouraging them toexercise in fun ways helps to prevent obesity, which can also prevent thedevelopment of diseases in the future. A child's growing body is setting thefoundation for the rest of his life. If you help him to develop healthy habitsat a young age, he is more likely to remain healthy as he goes through hisadult life as well.

Keeping children physically active can be a challenge, especially in today'sworld that is reliant upon technology to keep both children and adults occupied.Purchasing equipment that is part of a youth fitness and exercise program helpsshow children the importance of using exercise as a part of their daily lives.Children need the guidance of the adults in their lives to develop healthyhabits. Child-friendly exercise equipment and programs is a great way toencourage children to stay active.

Youth Conditioning, Endurance and Strength Training - How Important Is It?

2011-10-27T17:42:00.000-07:00

With the onset of obesity and overall lack of physical activity in the current youth population, it has become even more evident to focus on youth conditioning and exercise and its impact on future generations. Technology, unfortunately, has created a very lazy child, as well as the elimination of most physical education programs in elementary, middle schools, and even some high schools. Kids these days are just eating way too much, and exercising way too little. Parents are challenged, given the decision, as to what programs to encourage their children to participate in, that are safe and effective to keeping the youth healthy and vibrant. With youth conditioning, it needs to be a conscious choice as to more endurance, more strength training, or a balance of the two programs. How important is it?

As a child matures, a supervised strength training program can begin at the age of 7-9 years, for both boys and girls. These programs need to focus on basic athleticism which includes, strength, balance and agility, using a variety of body weight movements and exercises such as pushups, bear crawls, stork and duck walks, and inch worms. Less should be focused on heavy lifting through the use of dumbbells, barbells, and other more advanced methods of strength training.
Boys might be preparing for high school and college athletics, therefore advanced functional body weight movements and incorporating training tools such as kettlebells, balance discs, and weight equipment is optimum. The reasons for this are the need to develop overall athletic skills which prepare the body for sports at a competitive level. Movements and exercises that engage the neuromuscular system in repetitive patterns of athletic type actions will prepare a young athlete to perform at his or her best safely, and naturally.

Girls, on the other hand, need a similar introduction to strength conditioning, however their focus should include joint strength and stabilization exercises for the upper body, and the use of body weight to build strength, endurance, stability in the lower body joints, and making it fun. If the youth feels good about fitness, chances are they will maintain their program into their later years, and their health will benefit overall.

The endurance portion of any youth conditioning program is the most challenging for any program director. Most youths tire quickly, or have a wealth of excuses as to why they cannot run or jump. It is essential to have a health screening and doctors' assessment prior to any endurance program, to make sure there are no red flags for continuing with the exercise. At any given chronologic age, children differ not only in their biologic age and physical maturity but also in their psychological attitude. Psychological factors are important when determining children's readiness for sport and exercise, their degree of involvement, and their enjoyment. If the youth were to begin in a slow and safe manner, they will surely continue and reap the benefits of the program. Endurance for children is progression with each child, paying attention to the needs of the youth, and creating an effective program in accordance with each person.

Youth conditioning, both endurance and strength training is vital in today's society. This is, by far, the most important population and deserves our greatest attention.

Railyard Fitness is an obstacle course that allows kids to build muscular endurance, muscular strength, and cardiovascular endurance while they have fun. The obstacle course allows youth to train while focusing on their body function, giving them the ability to perform sports movements safely and with confidence. View more information about the benefits of the Railyard obstacle course for youth exercise.

Sports Conditioning Drills for Well-Rounded Young Athletes

2011-10-27T17:31:00.000-07:00

If you're developing a new or improving a current sports conditioning program for kids, the Railyard Obstacle Course gives you the tools and environment you need to help your youth athletes improve their bio-motor global functioning. Exercising on the Railyard Obstacle Course helps young athletes to develop overall muscle strength, endurance, flexibility, balance, coordination, flexibility, speed and power.

Sometimes you'll see strength and power referred to interchangeably when people talk about sports conditioning for kids. These terms are interrelated, but strength and speed acting together produce power in an athlete. Both strength and speed gain a boost from exercising entire muscle groups and whole body exercises, as opposed to weight resistance training. The Railyard focuses on using body weight for strength, flexibility and overall sports conditioning, with an endless variety of potential combinations, exercises, routines and choices of workout.

Since you work with kids, you know that the more fun an exercise is, the more they will be eager to perform that exercise, and more engaged they'll be in training and drills. Creating drills on the Railyard and with the Serius Strap Suspension Trainer lets you take a creative and unique approach that's also fun -- a lot more fun than repetitive weight lifting or boring cardio on a treadmill or stair climber.

The Railyard uses body weight and gravity for resistance in different exercises that you can combine into drills using such varied strength and flexibility-builders as bear crawls, inchworms, traditional and modified squats, alligators, vaults and hip raises. Drills on the Railyard won't just increase strength, speed and power, they will also help to improve musculoskeletal alignment, which will reduce the chances for injury while kids are playing their sport.

Two other important aspects of sports conditioning for kids are muscular and cardiovascular/respiratory endurance. Drills on the Railyard will guide kids through continual movements and combinations of exercise that require sustained whole-body effort, thus producing greater muscular endurance. Drills using the Railyard also combine both anaerobic and aerobic exercise, which helps to improve muscular endurance and cardiovascular endurance at the same time. You can design very intense drills using the Railyard that will encourage maximum effort for both cardiovascular conditioning and muscular conditioning. One of the ways that the Railyard works to provide great sports conditioning for kids is by requiring them to use their thinking muscle at the same time they are using their bodies. That's right: kids who do drills on the Railyard are required to use their brain to decide how best to position their bodies and perform the different exercises like alligators or bear crawls, engaging all parts of the kid at once. Instead of spending low-quality time in repetitive movement on a treadmill or exercise bike, listening to music or staring at a television, the combination of fun and fitness impact is the biggest reason that the Railyard is a smart, highly-effective, kid-friendly choice for sports training.

Railyard voted MVP again!

2010-05-14T14:15:00.000-07:00

I'm proud to announce we've been chosen as one of the Most Valuable Products in PE once AGAIN! Attendees at the 2010 PE4life / IBC Adopt-a-School Challenge Summit in Des Moines Iowa voted, and the Railyard Conditioning Course tied for first place with EKHO Heart Rate Monitors. We received 3 top 2 finishes at three recent PE conferences and we couldn't be more proud or appreciative.

Have you read the book, "Spark, The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain"? If you haven't, I highly recommend you do. It gives everyone in physical education and fitness added justification to continue our mission of exercise and fitness. The author, John Ratey, MD, describes the process by which vigorous exercise enhances the learning process and why. It a fascinating read and adds one more reason for a daily workout. In the book you'll read about the PE program in Naperville, Ill. that "Sparked" Dr. Ratey's interest. Two, very progressive PE teachers in Naperville started what they call, “New PE", whereby every child exercises one hour every day. Their program fostered much healthier children, Naperville schools are among the lowest in obesity in the nation, it produced a noticeable increase in academic achievement. Were proud to have Railyard in use in Naperville and to be a part of this exciting achievement.

More and more documented results verifying this is published daily as to the positive affect exercise has on a children learning ability. What is the problem people? Exercise helps children learn, exercise makes children healthier, America wants smarter and healthier children, seems to me part of the answer exercise. Let us, as a nation, support the PE programs in our schools and we’ll get what we strive for, a healthy generation of children that could reverse the predictions and become the longest living generation. We’ll be doing everything in our power, will you join us?

Our 80-page youth and kids fitness manual is now available online, download it free. It’s a wonderful tool for PE teachers, fitness professionals, parents, anyone who is interested in joining the effort to develop a healthier U.S.

2010-02-03T10:34:00.000-08:00

I would like to congratulate Jody Ebstein, P.E Teacher, and Audubon Elementary School in Chicago, the grand prize winner of a Railyard Conditioning Course. Next month we will have more information on Jody and how she plans to use the Railyard in her classes next month.

Our hope is the Railyard Depot becomes a valuable forum where physical educators and fitness professionals will share information on their successes and trials in providing exercise for our nations children. Please write your thoughts down send them to us, and we will include them in the next month’s issue.

The fitness equipment manufacturers, distributors, and retailers, are forming a trade association (Afirm) to promote fitness and exercise. The Association will be a part of the SGMA, one of the leading proponents of the PEP Grant and the PHIT bill. As a founding member, I intend to encourage the industry to take a larger role in supporting Physical Education and fitness for children. What can the fitness industry do to help you provide exercise and fitness to your students and clients? Please post your suggestions on the Railyard Depot Blog and I’ll present them to the Association.

We are proud to announce the National Head Start/Body Start Program has selected our preschool exercise program and product, the Playtangle Jr. to be included in the 2010 Resource Guide. The Playtangle is manufactured and distributed by our parent Company, TherapyZone.com.

2009-12-24T08:28:00.000-08:00

Since my last post, we've attended the Missouri, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Arizona state AAHPERD conferences and were represented by G & G Fitness, our regional sales group, in New York and Ohio. My heartfelt thank you goes out to all the Physical Educators who visited with us at these events and their overwhelming positive response to the Railyard and the kids and children's exercise it provides.

We are firming up the 2010 conference schedule and will post it on our website shortly. If we are in your area, please drop by to say hi, I look forward to meeting you. We will be at at the California AAHPERD and the National AAHPERD in March where we will be introducing the new, Railyard Fitness Exercise Hanger. The Hanger is our entry into the suspension training market designed with the PE student and program in mind, you're going to love this!

I wish to introduce you to Vint Hargrave, All Pro Athletics in Florida, Vint has put up his new video on the Railyard. Vint has the largest Railyard outside of Denver and is providing youth sports conditioning to the young athletes in his area. Vint may be the #1 fan of Railyard Conditioning, here's a link to his video.
www.vimeo.com/8110858

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year.

2009-11-05T12:39:00.000-08:00

We are proud to announce the Railyard Conditioning Course was awarded the honor of (3rd Most Valuable Product) by the attendees the at the PE4life PEP Grant conference last month. We beat out some old standards and a number of new exergaming products. I like to think this is a trend towards the total body, functional fitness the Railyard provides.
There are over 200 facilities around the country using the Railyard as an obstacle course for their children’s fitness and youth exercise programs. A number of these Courses are being used to provide conditioning for youth athletes. We believe this is how children should be developing their foundational and athletic skills. The exercises on the course and naturally functional and fun, both necessary for a successful conditioning program.

We will give away a $3500.00 Railyard on January 20, 2010 to one lucky "Railyard Depot" subscriber, go to our website to sign up and good luck!

2009-09-08T14:43:00.000-07:00

Are we doing everything we can to promote fitness to the exerciser of tomorrow?

I believe we could do a much better job of introducing exercise to our nation’s youth. I’ve been to six national and regional PE Conferences in the past year and the exercise industry is noticeably absent. You will find the U. S. Golf Association, U.S. Tennis Association, Skate in School (in-line skates), Educational Disc Golf Experience, Bowling Proprietors of America, National Alliance for the development of Archery and the National Archery in Schools program, Ultimate Players Association (Frisbee), Orienteering 4 Schools, U.S. Figure skating, to name a few industries, all lobbying for time in our nations PE programs. You will find a few fitness manufactures such as me, a few sports and fitness equipment dealers, and a few fitness associations such as ACE, NSCA, and IDEA, everyone promoting their personal agenda. The fitness industry should have an industry association there with free curriculum, training, and support, as all the sports and outdoor activity industries. The fitness industry has the knowledge, people, and the justification to take a leadership role in the health of our nation’s children, not only for the growth and preservation of our industry, but for the health of our nation.
Railyard Fitness is proud to be one of the few company’s providing free fitness curriculum that can be used in every grade and by every student. Our fitness manual does not require the teacher have any of our equipment, just the desire to provide a fun, functional exercise experience to their class.

I believe it’s time all the different factions of the fitness industry come together as one to promote fitness, not a specific kind of fitness, fitness in general. National statistics tell us about 30% of adult Americans exercise on a regular basis (a generous number) and we are all marketing to this group, imagine if we could attract another 10% or 35 million exercisers, more people for the health clubs, more customers for product at retail, more clients for trainers, simply more revenue. Imagine 20, 30, or 40% more people in exercise, it would be boom for everyone in the fitness industry.

What do you think?

2009-06-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

The Railyard Conditioning Course won 2nd place in the "Most Valuable Product" competition on June 19th at the PE4Life Summit in Rogers Arkansas!

2009-06-12T07:03:00.000-07:00

I just returned from the Texas State PE Administrators Conference, what a dedicated group of professionals. We've recieved more inquiries from the State of Texas than all the rest of the country combined, after attending this event I can see why. Texas is on a mission to improve the health of thier children, I can only hope the rest of the country will choose to follow.

The Railyard Conditioning Course is the ideal exercise platform for children, and it's fun!

>> From a study published in the Swimming Science Bulletin. Authored by Brent S. Rushall & John Marsden.

"If resistance training is to be done with children and young adolescents, exercises should involve sub-maximal loads, such as one’s own body weight, light dumbbells, weighted bags and/or medicine balls. Sophisticated and restrictive weight exercises, particularly on machines, are not ideal for children".

2009-05-19T10:55:00.000-07:00

We presented 3 workshops at the annual SEA Convention in Orlando last week to a very receptive audience. Response to the exercises was very good and everyone had fun on the Railyard. Our next workshops will be at the Texas Physical Education Administrators meeting on South Padre Island. Texas has proven to be our best market to date, looking forward to that weekend.

2009-04-10T13:19:00.000-07:00

We returned from the AAPHARD National Convention last week in Tampa Florida with a folder full of schools interested in the Railyard as a fun, easy to use, functional addition to their fitness program. I want to thank everyone who stopped by our booth and picked up information on the Railyard, we will be in touch with you soon.
Lee

2009-03-17T17:03:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the first issue of the Railyard Depot Blog.

This Blog is all about an exciting and remarkably effective training method and the platform on which it's done, the Railyard Conditioning Course. Exercise on the Railyard is the world's most complete exercise.

Please post your questions, share your experience on the Obstacle Course, or simply check out the comments from educators, professionals, and Railyard users around the world.

Railyard Fitness is pleased to announce our Platinum Sponsorship of PE4life, the premier program working towards putting PE in every school, every day.

Sign up for the "Railyard Depot", our monthly newsletter on our website and you will receive a free e-copy or our 78-page training manual featuring over 50 exercises and routines you, your clients, students, and you can do in the backyard, in the park, in your basement, or on a Railyard Conditioning Course.

Thank you for joining us. Lee