Tip #18…Make it Family Time

With summer upon us, our workouts sometimes become even more difficult to schedule. We have to think differently about our workout time with the craziness of the summer schedule. To help benefit everyone, start sharing some of your workouts with the family. Bike rides, walks, jogs, swimming or even conditioning. Depending on the age of your kids, the activities will vary. If they are little, you will have to push them along for your walks. As they grow, have them ride along in their big wheel or bike as you jog. We have been through all the stages of this with my kids next to me on my walk/jogs. It takes a lot of patience on some days, but it is still better than missing some exercise. We also have a tennis court in our neighborhood where we go and I workout while my kids play. Some times they even do lunges and push-ups with me. My kids are 5 and 8, and I create conditioning drills that they can do with me. We do side shuffles, sprints, run backwards and around cones. I have taught them basic squats, lunges and push-ups. Obviously, they do not do as much as me but they participate and have fun doing it. I get my workout and they are learning to have fun exercising and staying healthy.

I posted this earlier this year, but it is perfect for the start of summer as well. To help start off the New Year and get the family back into our active routine, we did a 21 day fitness challenge chart. My kids love stuff like this. Every one needs to do something active each day and they are allowed 1 day of rest each week. This helps us all work to keep each other accountable. My 8 year old son loves to see that he is winning and my husband knows that he better get into gear because if he doesn’t do anything, he doesn’t make the chart. Our first week was a little crazy and tough for the two of us, but the kids did great.

It is fun to have some friendly competition and accountability in the family. It starts great conversation about why we it is important to be active and it has definitely been a great motivator for everyone. Right now, it is all about moving. It doesn’t matter what your activity is. Everyone just needs to be active every day in some way.

Download the  Family Fitness Challenge Chart  you can use with your family. This is ours hanging on the fridge. We color code our names so we can easily tell who is active and who is not. Have fun!

As with all activity, make sure your family is cleared by a doctor and safe to exercise. See a fitness professional if you are unsure. See our disclaimer here.