FITNESS AUTHOR
Caitlyn Meisner
FITNESS FOR TEENS n This summer, Planet Fitness has been offering its free, teenage summer program again to empower teens in their wellness journey.
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taying motivated throughout the summer months is difficult. Fortunately, for teens across the country, Planet Fitness is continuing their High School Summer Pass, which allows teens aged 14 to 19 to work out for free until August 31st in any Planet Fitness gym. Chris Epper, the VP of Marketing for Excel Fitness Holdings at Planet Fitness, spoke on the mission of the program and what Planet Fitness is doing for teens across the country. “Lots are struggling with mental health,” Epper says. “We shifted gears from our 2019 program, the Teen Summer Challenge, as a result of the statistics we found in teen fitness from the pandemic.” Epper and his team hope to make a positive impact through this program, especially to encourage teenagers — and their parents — to make a commitment to their physical and mental health. Darla Castelli is a professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education and the Director of the Kinetic Kidz Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. She emphasizes how healthy teenage living, including physical activity, can improve mental health. “(Physical activity) changes one’s mood to a more positive disposition,” Castelli says. “(People are) able to
AUGUST 2022
navigate adversity just a little better.” Castelli’s research focuses on how physical activity is linked to cognitive development. She says as teens enter the real world, especially with a wide range of age groups in a gym setting, they learn societal cues. “You are building this bank of cognitive reserve that you can draw on in later life,” Castelli says. “The etiquette of the weight room (gets) a young person familiar with particular social norms.” On the other hand, Leslee Feldman, a trainer at Castle Hill Fitness and the girls’ lacrosse coach at Bowie ISD, has a different approach to teens and physical activity. She claims that by incorporating dynamic warmups and drills, athletes are able to keep an interest in the sport. “Every eight to 10 minutes, there has to be a new drill; otherwise, they lose interest,” Feldman says. “I also try to find out something about (my lacrosse girls) while they’re warming up. I ask them a bunch of questions — if they have animals, if they have siblings or if they’ve ever played other sports. I kind of use that as motivation.” The discussion around fitness for teens becomes even more important with the emergence of childhood obesity, as it is a prevalent concern in the U.S. today. The CDC National Center for Health Statistics
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