Exercise as a Family

After a long winter of being stuck indoors more than I’d like, I’d like to refresh, get outside and get moving!

Springtime, for me, is a great time to start exercising again regularly. I try to keep up over the winter, but it’s hard in Iowa. This month, I want to commit to it again.

Will you do it with me?

Why exercise as a family?

Generally, exercise is ‘me time’. It’s the one time I do something just for me and I generally don’t get interrupted during this time (especially if I go for a run) and I cherish that time greatly!

However, I do think there’s something for making it a family event. Maybe not every time you exercise, but to include the entire family at least once or twice a week in an active way (see below for ideas).

I have two main reasons why I like to include the family:

1. It’s a time for us all to be together and something about exercising is a huge bonding moment (I’m thinking about my own high school days in sports… those were my peeps!)
2. It’s good to show my kids that being healthy can be fun to do and not always a drag

But, beyond what I have for reasons, listen to author and fitness expert, Debbie Mendel, found on PBS Parents:

“Children who exercise do better academically and learn how to reduce stress. In essence, adults in the household are showing children a healthy way to relieve stress and improve their thinking while they (the adults) practice what they preach. Children are always observing their parents and picking up on their body language, not just their words.”

And taking it beyond just exercising, but doing it together… WHY?

Here’s what Dr. Ron Eaker, M.D. OB-GYN, author of Fat-Proof Your Family says on Faith & Fitness:

“Exercising with children reprograms kids to understand what is normal and what is not. Kids today believe that a sedentary lifestyle is normal. Studies show that most kids spend an average of 6 hours after school doing sedentary things like TV, computers, and video games. The have a skewed perception of ‘normal.’”

When I say “exercise” I don’t mean that you have to all go for a run (unless you want to) or head to the gym. There are many ways you can get active and exercise without it being the ‘traditional’ way. See my list below for lots of ideas to try this month.

Choose some ways for your family to exercise together

It doesn’t have to be a full-on exercise regime. Just find ways to get moving together as a family.

Some ideas could include:

• Go for family walks in the evening
• Head to the playground, and play on it with the kids!
• Play a game of basketball, baseball, soccer, or whatever it is that your family loves to do!
• Play Frisbee!
• Go for a light jog together around the block
• Create a fun obstacle course in the backyard and take turns doing it, or racing each other!
• Go for a bike ride
• Do yard work together, this works me harder than I realize!
• Yoga!
• Crank up the music and dance!
• Go for a swim
• Play tag!
• Look into your local YMCA

Carve out a time in the day to exercise

Much like we find time to do activities, it’s important to find time to exercise in some way every day.

Instead of getting down on myself if we miss a day, I try to look at it as a whole. If I miss a day, can we do more the next day? Or did we already have a pretty active weekend that this is a much-needed break?

However, having a time of the day that you know you can fit in some exercise helps make it happen!

Where in your day can you squeeze in 15-20 minutes of physical activity on a regular basis? Or longer periods. Try these times:

• First thing in the morning, especially if your kids wake up early. Can you head out and walk around the block to get your blood flowing for the day?
• After school, or naptime.
• Dinner, before or after, when you have the time.

A lot of time we think of exercise as a solo activity. If you do it as a family, it’s a time to bond (some of my favorite moments in high school are when I was at my worst after running a cross country meet, the bond I created with my team through that was amazing), as well as a great time to just chat and find out what’s going on with each other!

Keep track and reward yourself!

Download your Exercise Sheet

Your Homework this Month:

1. Download and print out this month’s calendar and put it somewhere you’ll see every day
2. Download this month’s supply list and check your stock to see what you need. Add to your supply as needed.
3. Download and print out this month’s weekly activity plans. Let your child(ren) look through them to see the fun they’ll be having soon! Have fun doing these with your kids!
4. Choose 4 exercises to do with your family this month. (As part of the monthly plan we will be going on a bike ride, playing frisbee, doing yard work and yoga on our weekends.)
5. Download the Exercise Sheet to check off what you do this month!
6. Report how this goes in The Activity Room: Member’s Only Facebook group (this is a private group).