Fitness: Talk about multitasking: Involve family in health program
These days, it seems that the modern lifestyle has become an exercise in multitasking with the goal of cramming as much as possible into a single 24-hour period. Two of the unfortunate casualties of such a lifestyle are our families and our fitness.
But maintaining your fitness and having quality family time is priceless in terms of stress management, relaxation and general enjoyment or quality of life, so you should prioritize your time and schedule exercise daily to stay healthy and include your family as well.
With a little planning and organization, you can enjoy time with loved ones and maintain your health and fitness. Combining family and fitness is easier than you may think.
There are lots of activities to keep you busy, but swimming is always a sure-fire hit with the kids. In fact the difficulty, often, is persuading them to get out of the pool when you're done. Swimming is an excellent family activity because everyone can participate at his or her own level. Also, because it is a weight-supported exercise, it is ideal if impact activities are unsuitable for you or you have an injury.
An hour swimming can burn up to 300 calories while building upper-body strength and giving your heart, lungs and major muscles a good workout.
Another great family inclusive sport is cycling. Even if your children are too young to control a bike on their own, you can always buy child seats so you can all enjoy the fresh air and outdoors together. Another bonus is that cycling burns between 200 and 800 calories per hour while strengthening and shaping your lower body. Don't forget the helmets, though.
And how about walking? For easy family fitness, walking tops of the charts. Walking is the simplest of healthy activities, it's absolutely free and can be enjoyed almost anywhere. A family walk over a couple of hours will tire out the children and bring a multitude of health benefits for everyone. To add more interest for the kids, take a nature walk on the beach on in one of our preserves and see who can point out the most wildlife.
If it's too hot outside, or storms are in the forecast, take your workouts indoors. Bowling and table-tennis are just two activities done indoors - and are affordable - that everyone in the family can try. Depending on the ages of your children, you could organize mini tournaments and head-to-head competitions that are certain to provide a great workout.
Bottom line, just get up and go. Of course everyone is busy, but there aren't many things more important than maintaining your health and spending time with your family.
Angie Ferguson
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