If you enjoy fitness and training then you would likely be interrested in having a cool Airtrack in your garden to play on or to help you become a better gymnast. An Airtrack in the garden are tons of fun for most kids and young adults.
I recently bought one of these cool Airtracks for my daughter after she pestered me for months to get one. At first I thought it was a bit of a silly thing and a waste of money, but I'm actually starting to see the usefuless after we had it for a few weeks.
If you don't know what an Airtrack is, in short it's a 3-5 meter long gym mat that is filled with 10cm of air. It makes you land softly if you fail a jump and land wrong, but it also adds a lot of extra power to the jumps so you get higher than normal. This makes regular gym training extra fun. Now I've had the pleasure of watching my daughter Melanie train on it for almost 3 months, and a lot has happened in that time. She has been doing gymnastics for several years, but the progress she has had in the last 3 months is much greater than what had previously happened in a year.
The assistance that an Airtrack Trainer provides makes it easier to perform those jumps that might have been a little too difficult to do without assistance. This means that you will learn the jumps more quickly and will be able to practise them on the Airtrack for some time, and then you will most likely also be able to perform the jump without using the Airtrack. This gives an advantage that would not be possible without the use of Airtracks.
Read more about Airtracks
Airtrack is healthy training
I have watched a lot of Melanie's Airtrack training and I can see that it is certainly not a bad form of exercise. I myself have a background as an instructor in various centres, and therefore take a keen interest in sports and fitness.
The advantage of working out on an Airtrack is that you'll get your heart rate up in no time, which is a great workout for both your fitness and your circulation.
You use virtually all your muscles when doing the more complex jumping series on the Airtrack and with maximum power, which is a really good form of strength training for the whole body.
In addition, you strengthen your body's agility and coordination when you train on an Airtrack.
All of this adds up to a very complete form of exercise when you use the Airtrack, and you get more out of just 15-20 minutes of Airtrack exercise than you would in a gym or if you ran or cycled a route.
This is also one of the reasons I wrote this article, hoping to put a little more focus on the use of Airtracks, a type of exercise that is both healthy and fun for your child. Especially if your child already loves sports where you use your body.
I have seen that Airtracks are typically used in gymnastics, where they also have major competitions and performances in Air tracks, but also in other types of show sports like visser types of martial arts, parkour and cheerleading these Airtracks are used extensively. I can also easily imagine it being somewhat easier to practice parkour jumps on an Airtrack rather than on a concrete floor. Especiall y for gymnastics an Airtrack is super fun and a great piece of training equipment.
Read more about gymnastics and Airtrack training
Airtracks training for home training or outdoor training
There are a lot of different Airtrack models on the market nowadays, which means that finding the right model for your child is certainly not easy. I did some thinking myself before buying one for Melanie, and here the choice fell on an inexpensive Gymplay FlipZ.
The reason I chose this cheap Airtrack was that I wasn't sure if it was even something she would bother using for more than a few months. Kind of like the Berg trampoline I bought for her last year. It was a lot of fun at first, but after a while she got tired of it.
The Airtrack was a completely different story, she still really likes it and is in the process of saving up for an even bigger model. So in hindsight, maybe I should have gone for a slightly bigger model from the start, as she was already quite experienced at gymnastics.
My advice would be that if your child is not already proficient at what the Airtrack is for, whether it be gymnastics, martial arts or parkour, then buy a small cheap 3 metre model. They are available for under 2,000 kroner, and sometimes cheaper when there are special offers. Stay away from the very cheap models you sometimes see on foreign sites, they are rubbish and more toys than a real gymnastics tool.
The advantage of the small model is that you can train inside it too, so you have a little extra space. It's easy to pump up and set up in the garden. The larger models can be a bit heavy, so your child may need a little help setting up the Airtrack.
If your child has some experience in the sport or is a little older, the 3 metre model is just small enough. A 4 or 5 metre model would be a better choice, and preferably one that is also a little thicker. For example a 15 cm model.
This will give you a longer track to do your jumps on, can put together even more complex jumps for maximum fun and training. As well as the extra thickness gives a bit more power and height to the jumps.
If your child is a gymnast at a really high level, you might have to go for an even bigger Airtrack track at 6-8 metres and 20cm thick,
Selecing the right model can be quite the struggle, so in some cases it might be a good idea to contact an Airtrack company and get a little help before you buy one. That way you can be sure that it's the right now and the right size for your kid.
