Minimum age for exercise equipment

[critterchick]

I hope you keep posting here. Don't get too upset with what others say. By the photo you posted, looks like you have a great family. My kids are into soccer, track and football. I wish they would want to work out on our vacations, but it's hard enough for me and my wife to get there. :o

 

I think if you are there with them and they are seriously working out, what is wrong with that? The age limit is to protect them from harm and to keep rowdy kids away from adults trying to relax. I don't walk onto a treadmill to relax :p

 

Keep doing what you're doing.

 

Please don't. As others have said, it's more likely than not an insurance/liability issue, not one of keeping the gym an adult sanctuary. Even if you are closely supervising your child, somebody else might see him or her in there and allow their less well-supervised kids to break the rules, too. I seldom see any fitness staff in the gym, so there's no good way to ensure that underage children are properly supervised by their parents.

 

On our Vision cruise last year there were children in the gym with their grandparents, who basically put them on the equipment and ignored them. The kids were just horsing around, which is a recipe for disaster. Fortunately my roommate has more chutzpah in gym matters than I do and pointed out the age requirement to the GPs, who took them out.

[bruce-r]

I have 3 daughters who are both Cross Country and Track runners and over the years have had to work out while on board...last December my 12 year old did not have a problem on Explorer on the ellipiticals, treadmills and bikes..they never said a word...:)

 

Mmmmm.. they also have an adults only pool, I imagine that your daughter was in there too and ..they never said a word...

 

You must have used the equipment yourself to get such strong legs to jump to such a conclusion.:rolleyes:

[Boo Boo]

Please don't. As others have said, it's more likely than not an insurance/liability issue, not one of keeping the gym an adult sanctuary. Even if you are closely supervising your child, somebody else might see him or her in there and allow their less well-supervised kids to break the rules, too. I seldom see any fitness staff in the gym, so there's no good way to ensure that underage children are properly supervised by their parents.

 

On our Vision cruise last year there were children in the gym with their grandparents, who basically put them on the equipment and ignored them. The kids were just horsing around, which is a recipe for disaster. Fortunately my roommate has more chutzpah in gym matters than I do and pointed out the age requirement to the GPs, who took them out.

 

Agreed... gyms are generally not the best place for children (or some adults for that matter... ;) ), with perhaps the exception of those with a formal training plan from a coach or fitness expert. Kids are going through huge amounts of growth and changes and their bodies are much more fragile than adults: so without careful monitoring, kids/teens could do themselves some harm. I have been involved in elite level sport for some time and so many develop "career shortening" injuries in those formative years...

 

So yes, maybe elite/serious sports people (with a suitable training plan) under the age of 16 should be able to use the gym, but where does the cruiseline draw the line? How can parents prove that their child is on a serious training plan? And if the cruiseline allows "select" children under 16 into the gym, then how do they prevent all the other pre-16s using it?

 

All of the land gyms (public and private) that I have belonged to have had a strict "over 16" policy, execept for the elite training villages. But, still, every under-16 use of the gym is on a case-by-case basis. I think this is rightly so.

 

Any good sports coach will be able to provide a week's training to fit the facilities available and the time in the season: if that is just a running track, stairs and some things you take with you... then that is still possible. In general (depending on the time that it is taken) a week of rest wont kill a child and actually might be quite good for them ;) (annual training plans should include a number of "rest" cycles - that is the ideal time to go on vacation).

 

If a pre-16 is lucky enough to look 16 and acts maturely enough, then they will get away with using the gym. If a pre-16 looks 12 years old OR acts in any way immaturely, then I would expect other gym users to complain...

 

Boo