I mean specifically for very young children such as toddlers. It seems that, as a rule of thumb, they are much more physically motivante than the average (say, 30 years old or so) adults, barring those who actually practice regular exercise. Some children seem like they can run, climb and jump with a consistent timing for longer than many adults.
Is it because our own disposition has been ruined by a generally sedentary lifestyle?
In: Biology
As a parent of young kids I’ve thought a lot about why kids seemingly have tons of energy and I think it comes down to a few reasons. The main thing is that small kids are living 100% in the moment at all times. When they’re running around and jumping they’re fully into it. They’re not worried about getting hurt, they’re not pacing themselves to save energy for later. For small kids right now is the only thing that exists.
The next thing is small kid’s bodies are smaller and lighter than an adults. Running around and jumping doesn’t tire them out as quickly as it would for an adult because they don’t weigh as much.
Finally, small kids sleep 10 – 12 hours a day and they don’t have any responsibilities. The only items on their calendar are sleep, eat, get dressed, got to the bathroom, and play. If I had the same schedule as a typical three year old I would also have a ton of energy for running around and playing.
Mostly the square cube law. A toddler 1/2 of my size will have around 1/8th of my mass but 1/4 of my strength. He uses far less of his strength to move around.
They havent taken enough viral liver damage to lower their energy levels. Everytime you get sick with the flu you take a little bit more damage that doctors cant see.
Have you ever met a young rich 20 year old? Without having to bust ass working a 9/5 you have so much time and energy to do whatever! Kids are naturally more energetic but not having a job snuffing out your will to live is a big boost!
>they are much more physically motivated than the average adults, barring those who actually practice regular exercise
You answered yourself. The average toddler has gone zero days without running, jumping, falling and spinning. Plenty of adults have gone *decades* without doing those things.
There’s obvs a bunch of other factors, but did anyone else ever play *The Simpsons: Hit and Run*? I know “use it or lose it” is a common saying but every time I think about how crap my body is becoming as I age, I’m taken back to playing that game just because of that dumb voice.
Essentially… if you never do it, how can you expect to do it?
Rule of thumb. Have kids in your early twenties, that way you can keep up with them. As to your question, depending on your life prior. Born with a silver spoon in your mouth, you usually have care takers for your kids. That gives you time to keep up with yourself. Born and raised poor, you have nothing but yourself. Those little buggers can run you to death. Us people prayed for nap time, as well as bed time. That’s the only time we got a break.
I think you answered most of your own question by excluding “those who actually practice regular exercise”.
The average kid has better cardio than your average adult who doesn’t exercise. But if you pit a child against an adult with decent cardio, that adult is gonna have way more endurance than the kid. As can be seen often on a hiking trail when the kid inevitably ends up on their parent’s shoulders.
New bloods are generally much stronger than adults because they still have their human blood in their system
Unfortunately this isn’t really the case in many areas. I played the role of Santa in a santa run in my local school that has a mostly council estate (deprived) catchment area. The plan was to run 2 laps of the school with the children chasing me.
I have my very own “belly like a bowl full of jelly” and even then only a couple of the the 300 or so children actually kept up with me. Most fell way behind and I heard complaints like “I think my legs are broken” and “My insides are on fire” and other such stuff.
A lot of these children simply do not exercise at all. Another school I’ve worked in gives classes wristbands that track steps and physical activity. Once the children get used to wearing them and aren’t increasing their activity because they’re wearing them, it’s seen that many engage in only around 10 minutes of moderate physical activity per day whilst at school, despite have 2 hours worth of outside break time and extra classroom activities designed to increase activity.
With the link between physical acitivity and improved cognitive function, schools are desperate to get children moving, yet children seem more sedentary than ever.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180424083907.htm
Basically kids have better aerobic (oxygen-based) efficiency. They also recover faster after exercise so they’re ready to go again after a much shorter break. Adults do have the advantage in anaerobic exercise though.
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