CrossFit Kids & Teens fitness program combines gymnastics, body weight calisthenics and weightlifting elements to develop capacity across ten general physical skills: cardio-respiratory endurance, power, strength, stamina, speed, agility, flexibility, balance, accuracy, and co-ordination. Additional elements that encourage bone density development, cross body movements and exercises that involve the vestibular system are also incorporated. Children and teens have a greater opportunity (relative to adults) to maximise their physical skills when exposed to this stimulus during years of peak development. The elements are combined to keep children engaged and entertained, while teaching them proper movement technique and creating a broad athletic foundation. Nutrition is also discussed as the basis of athletic performance and health within a supportive community. For CrossFit Auckland Kids & Teens it’s imperative to pair fitness and fun, to create a lifelong love of health and fitness for our children.

CrossFit Kids & Teens is a progressive coach led program offering classes in the following age groups: Kids – 7 to 11yrs, Junior Teens – 12 to 14yrs and Teens – 15 to 18yrs. Following this, teenagers matriculate into adult CrossFit classes (16+ with parental permission). The class structure across the age groups is generally the same. Classes include a warmup, skill work, a workout and an exercise intensive game. For teens, we’d encourage post workout study as research has found there is an optimal learning capacity of the brain for 20-40 minutes after exercise.

CrossFit Kids & Teens Membership

Coaches will determine when children are ready to move from one pogram to the next. this will differ for each child; the age recommendations for each program are just that. When a child is ready to move onto the next class, graduation will be awarded; the coach will advise the parents; and the child may attend the new class group. There are three primary elements that are evaluated: physical capacity, behavioural ability/control, and safety. Many children excel in one area but not in another. Graduation is at our discretion, and we attempt to place all children in the appropriate class. In some cases kids do not fit well in any class at the time of assessment. Private Training is also available for these children.

CrossFit Kids & Teens Membership

CrossFit Auckland Kids & Teens focuses on a child’s motor and cognitive skills by teaching proper movement in an interactive and fun group setting through challenging the children to think about their movement, count their repetitions, remember the sequences, and work towards goals. CrossFit Auckland Kids & Teens supplements a child or teen’s involvement in sports by incorporating strength training and conditioning to make our CrossFit athletes better athletes at any sport or play. In addition to increasing a child’s fitness and athleticism, CrossFit Auckland Kids & Teens:

• instills a lifelong definition of health and positive body image (what they can DO vs. how they LOOK)
• improves cognitive function
• reverses prevalent health issues such as obesity
• protects against injury
• creates a community of like-minded individuals for support and self-confidence
• hones life skills such as focus, perseverance, dedication, motivation, and goal-setting

The goal of CrossFit Auckland Kids & Teens is to provide the knowledge, ability, and skills which will allow our youth to grow and mature instilled with the virtues of an active and healthy lifestyle.

CrossFit Kids & Teens Membership

Kids may attend as often as they can and want. If your child has a sport practice schedule, please speak with a CrossFit Auckland coach to evaluate their schedule. We have coached many kids who are reps of multiple sports while also attending CrossFit classes. We recommend CrossFit can be maintained even during sport season; discuss a maintenance schedule with your coach.

We encourage parents to support their children maintain consistency in CrossFit attendance, and provide healthy meals at home and for school. Healthy meals consist of protein, carbohydrate, and fat at every meal. The guidelines we follow are: lean meat, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, some fruit, little starch, no sugar, and no grains. These foods are the optimal fuel for our bodies. We emphasize the importance of unprocessed, natural foods in balanced proportions.

Please pack or purchase water so that your children stay well hydrated. We encourage use of a sports towel, comfortable layered clothing for changes in temperature, and athletic shoes (flat converse style are prefered). We recommend an extra snack for in-between finishing school and coming to CrossFit Auckland. This boosts energy and concentration levels and should be a healthy option like nuts or fruit rather than highly processed and sugary snacks: chips, flavoured crackers, processed bars and lollies. We also insist that parents of our young athletes inform us of health and medical conditions as well as injuries or limitations that may impact a child’s health, performance or capability.

Children may arrive 5-10 minutes prior to class to change and be ready for class. Please collect them from the club to ensure they arrive safely home; ideally children should eat within 30 minutes of exercising to promote fast recovery and refueling.

We receive questions regarding safety and weightlifting for children. Weightlifting is both safe and beneficial for children when properly supervised. Please refer to the references in the Training Young Athletes section for more information.