BlackBench Fit Aims to Make Fitness a Viable Youth Activity With New Conditioning Program, BBYC

ASHBURN, VA--(Marketwired - Nov 12, 2013) -  BlackBench Fit is expanding beyond its roots in adult group fitness/nutrition and offering a new Youth Conditioning program aimed at kids ages 9-14. The company's goal is to legitimize youth fitness for both traditional athletes and non-traditional athletes alike.

BlackBench Fit Youth Conditioning (BBYC) takes BBF's "sweat, nourish, commit" approach to the youth level, emphasizing challenging workouts, educating kids on smart nutrition and providing a positive community for them to belong and succeed. Separate classes for youth ages 9-10 and ages 11-14 will be held as part of BBF's upcoming six-week holiday session, November 18-December 27.

BBYC is for traditional athletes who need to condition their bodies to perform better in their sport of choice and for kids who want to challenge themselves physically outside of organized sports. "We're leaving the skills training to others and doing what we do best: providing a fun, positive and challenging environment to get and stay fit," says BBF co-owner Trish Drennan. "Sadly, the number kids who stay in formal fitness related activities declines to about 25 percent by the time they hit high school. We want to help kids take themselves out of the 'box' of what they think an athlete is. We believe the kid who is not on a team can be just as fit as the kid who is on a team."

The upcoming BBYC session will focus on:

• Improving functional movement patterns, dynamic cardio, strength and flexibility
• Building speed, agility and quickness
• Increasing core and body-weight strength
• Measuring progress (in speed, strength and endurance) by benchmarking
• Learning injury prevention and proper body awareness/positioning
• Understanding nutrition with tips to help kids optimize performance and understand how food can help or harm their bodies

"Organized sports teams should not be the only 'cool' fitness-related activity available to our youth," says BBF co-owner Lisa Allen. "Our goal is to make youth fitness as legitimate and popular as organized sports, tae kwan do, dance and other activities are. Just as kids need to develop their educational foundation at a young age, we believe they can and should develop a foundation for healthy living now, before unhealthy habits take over."

Details on BBF Youth Conditioning program can be found at www.blackbenchfit.com.