PFP PHYSICAL LITERACY

Dec 9

Being physically active or participating in sports and recreational activities is considered to be “the norm” by many families. Parents that played sports in their youth or adulthood are likely to seek those experiences for their children to create similar formative experiences to what they went through.

But what if you have yet to have a positive experience with sports or physical activity?

Contrary to stereotypes, it is very common not to have had a good experience with sports or physical activity. It is also understandable that getting your children involved in such activities when you do not have those positive memories can be just as daunting as getting yourself involved.

Should You Try Again?

So, if you are someone that has yet to find that positive experience with physical activity, a good question to ask yourself may be, “Why should I try again, what is the benefit of getting physically active and physically literate?”. The short answer is that physical literacy, physical activity, and general muscle strength can make you more resilient to injuries, more confident with movement, and more proactive about your long-term health.

Physical Literacy

Literacy is a term that is used in many contexts to describe competence and confidence in a skill. Therefore, a physically literate person is competent with movement patterns and confident executing them in the appropriate scenarios.

Some examples of movement skills that one could be physically literate in are:

Jumping and landing
Balancing
Throwing, catching, and kicking
Pushing, pulling, and carrying
Squatting and hinging

These are just a few basic examples. A full list of skills one could be physically literate in, would be endless. Similar to being literate in reading, where you constantly sample different styles of texts and stories (new and old), being physically literate requires one to sample different movements to develop a broad, integrated sense of confidence and competence in their movement capabilities.

Physical Activity

Physical activity (PA) is a buzzword that gets thrown around a lot today. Alone, the term is very vague; however, we are all told it is important, and we should all do it. To clear up some confusion, let's discuss what kind of PA is beneficial. The context we will use to describe PA here is the intensity of PA, frequency of PA, duration of PA, and type of PA.

The intensity of physical activity should be moderate. This means on a scale of 1-10 (1 = resting, 10 = maxed out), your physical activity should be between 4-6, making you somewhat out of breath and getting your heart pumping above a resting pace. If you desire, you could always go more intense, but it should not be viewed as a requirement.

The frequency and duration one should participate in PA are at least three days a week for 60 minutes. As stated before, you could always go for more, but three days a week for 60 minutes will keep you moving in a productive way most days of the week!

The type of PA one participates in should be integrated. Try challenging your balance, hand eye coordination, muscular strength and endurance, cardiovascular endurance, agility, and speed. Each of these types of PA can be scaled from beginner to elite level and have many benefits to everyday life at just about every age!

Conclusion

Revisiting our previous question, “Why should I try again, what is the benefit of getting physically active and physically literate?” Being physically active in an integrated manner most days of the week can produce competence and confidence across a broad range of movements.

Through your everyday life, this can help when you slip off a curb, lift a box over head, or even just when you carry in the groceries. In the everyday life of a kid, this can prevent them from feeling left out of an activity they might not feel capable of doing.

As a parent, there is definitely a “monkey see, monkey do” effect with your children. If you value physical literacy and partake in PA that breeds it in yourself, then your children are more likely to engage in activities that will improve their physical literacy as well.