Physical fitness is an essential element of your family’s overall health and well-being. The benefits of staying fit range from an increased life expectancy and lower risk of heart disease to weight control and an improved performance at school for your kids. If you want to make exercising more fun, consider working out as a family; setting a good example will help your children form healthy habits for life.
The following activities for parents and children a great for ensuring everyone has a good time while keeping fit and healthy together.
Spark People suggests to make a healthy living bulletin board. Place a bulletin board in the kitchen or on the fridge featuring articles and other resources to inform your family about fitness issues. You can post anything your kids will find interesting and relevant to their lives.
Incorporate electronics into fitness, CNN advises. If your kids hate being told to turn off the TV and their video games, incorporate the time for electronics into your fitness regime. Wii and Kinect are obviously perfect for playing games together that get you moving, but you can even use watching television for fitness; for example, set challenges that everyone must complete during the commercial breaks, like doing jumping jacks, push-ups or crunches for the duration of the break.
WebMD recommends walk and bicycle instead of using the car. Whenever possible, take bikes or walk to your children’s school, the library, the grocery store, and any other places you go together. Alternatively, go for a walk as a family every day after dinner. You can even track your mileage or steps to set weekly challenges to increase your distance every week.
Another great suggestion from Spark People is to organize a family fitness night. By rotating who designs your family workout each week, you get to try a variety of activities that everyone enjoys. Ideas for fitness night can include swimming, rollerblading, basketball and Frisbee.
Take advantage of the cold weather, Eat Right says. There are plenty of activities you can enjoy in the snow, such as ice skating, building snowmen, sledding and even having snowball fight. Just be sure to bundle up and make sure everyone has on their sunglasses and sunscreen!
What activities does your family enjoy participating in together that contribute to everyone’s fitness? Share with us in a comment below.
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