Core Workout for 11 year old

Sit ups and planks are a couple great options.

Don't sit around playing video games. Get outside and play.

We got a medicine ball when my son was 12 and it has been great. There are videos on YouTube that show plenty of exercises with it, but we have managed to use it in lots of ways that are more like just fun than a workout. You can toss it to him while he is on a balance board and work up to trying to get him to lose his balance by throwing it side to side, or have a game like horse where you try to duplicate each others odd throws--you find lots of new muscles that way.

It can also make regular exercises more interesting like balancing on it for push-ups (hands or feet) or using it with crunches. My experience has been that the more fun younger kids have, the longer they will keep at it and the more they get from it. Our older daughter was a competitive rock climber at that age and her coach was brilliant at making hard workouts seem like games and got amazing results.

My son is 11 years old soon will be 12 and he does V sits, situps, tic tocs and pushups to work his core. V sits is where you sit on the ground knees bent and feet off the ground with arms wrapped around your chest and hold it for as long as you can. Most kids struggle with this drill cause it is TOUGH. They can do it while watching TV during commercials. V Sits and situps will work a lot of your core. If he is in really good shape you can also add tic tocs.

My son does 30 tic tocs, 200 situps, 300 pushups and 10 mins worth of V Sits per night. He has seen good results in his core over time.

How about climbing trees and building forts?

I know its hard to believe but there are some kids out there that baseball is their passion. Everything mine does has something to do with baseball. From video games to playing wall ball inside the house. watching college or MLB games, reading books on baseball and even collecting baseball cards. he just finished a book called Bat Boy and has now started on Hothead by Cal Ripkin.

His mother and I have placed other activities in front of him other than baseball and he has always choosen baseball over any thing else. As a parent why deny him what he loves??? There are worse things he could be doing.

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Originally posted by floridafan:
How about climbing trees and building forts?

The way I figure it climbing trees is a great overall upper body exercise. Driving nails develops forearms and wrists as well at significant hand eye coordination. Mine played baseball year round since he was 4, and worked at it. But he had fun too, fun that developed his core muscle groups and developed skills. Purely unintentional, but effective none the less.

Be carefull that you do not burn your guy out...it happens when you are not looking or expecting it.

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I know its hard to believe but there are some kids out there that baseball is their passion.

No it's not. Mine said he wanted to play college baseball when he was in LL. I still stuck a football and s0ccer ball in front of him in the fall and a basketball in the winter. In August we did family vacations that didn't involve team sports. We waterskied, biked and surfed. I've seen kids burn out playing a sport year round starting at a young age. It wasn't going to be my kid. In high school baseball became a year round project.

Get your son involved in wreslting. No doubt the best core work out there IMHO.My son got involved at the HS level and the results are amazing.Not only has the "core" improved but srength has gone thru the roof. It is not however condusive to weight to weight gain.
Core work is believed to be related to all the oblique injuries you are starting to see at the pro levels.In wrestling you will not lose your "baseball" flexibility. My 2 cents

Barry Lovelace has some good stuff that keeps kids active and using interesting core exercises to generate strength. You'll find him on YouTube.