Add a little love to your exercise routine (guest post)

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Family fitness!

Family fitness!

 

Long determined slogs on the treadmill . . . the stalwart morning warrior up before anyone else . . . is there something wrong with this picture?

You bet!

Nothing fits better with fitness than family. While sometimes a solitary swim or solo hike soothes the soul, fitness was made to be shared.

Since my oldest was in utero, my husband and I have made fitness an integral part of our family culture. Today our kids (ages 13 and 16) continue to join us on mountain bike rides through the woods and swimming at the local pond.

Staying fit as a family makes staying fit easier . . .

AND . . .

Fitness together has helped keep our family close.

Here’s why . .

1.     Family fitness strengthens more than your body

Sure it’s nice to see your hips slim down. But I’ve come to see this is as the icing on the cake – not the end result. Close relationships take time – not quality time only – but simply put Time.

Fitness is just another activity you can do together. Instead of finding a babysitter at the gym or slipping away in the early morn, it can be time you spend with your children and your spouse.

But this isn’t any old time spent together. Because as it turns out . . .

2.      Family fitness helps you teach your children well

The world’s rough out there. Life is tough. By the time you’re in your mid-forties, like me, you’ve figured that out. And if there’s one thing I realized my children needed, it’s how to get through tough stuff.

As you well know, there’s nothing like the mental discipline of pushing yourself over the next hill on a bike. Now, consider helping your child develop that.

Fitness is a way for you to help your children take on fear, failure and more in a relatively safe, structured environment with you along as a coach.

This means that you can’t just focus on the Fun in fitness. Sometimes you’re going to have to be the tough one. The one who – using judgment of course – tells them not to give up. And the one who ultimately believes they’re capable of more than they may know they are.

And here’s something we don’t hear often enough as parents: No one else is better positioned to push them to their limits while supporting them with unqualified love than you are.

(Secret bonus: When you push your kids to go farther, it’s harder for you to bow out of your goals – you’ve got to lead by example!)

Working with your children to get over the hurdles you choose to put in front of them will help them develop the mental muscles and skills to get over the hurdles life puts in front of them – without you having a say in the matter. But it gets even better. Because . . .

3.     Fitness in general is nature’s best stress buster

It’s biologically programmed. When we hit a stressor, we’re biologically designed to run, jump, fight or climb. Our chemistry shifts with stress to enable us to move dramatically. And consequently, when we move in response to stress we help our body release and shift back to our normal, healthy chemistry.

Unfortunately, we can’t always do that when stressors hit us in modern life. (Believe me there’s been a few conflicts with my kids that I’d love to sprint away from!) But we can help our body (and mind) work it off eventually.

Many days, we’ve had many a rough family talk in the morning that we followed with a wild game of tag or badminton. I can point back to a few bike rides we took after a tense marital dispute where I smiled over at my husband and with relief been answered with a smile.

It won’t solve everything. The hard work of relating still has to be done in the trenches. But building fitness activities into your family life gives you an automatic steam release valve that should be made use of regularly.

But of course, I’m focusing on all the tough love stuff. Let’s not forget . . .

4.     Fitness can be fun

Carla and her Tornado are great reminders of this concept. Making fitness stick requires you find some satisfaction in it. But why stop there? Kids are the real teachers here. The best way to move is when you’re simply loving life and feeling it.

Sometimes I’d grumble when it seemed like my son couldn’t stay still. But eventually I took some notes. Running, skipping, twirling or doing a somersault just because may not be such a bad idea.

Playing tag, jumping rope, climbing a tree, dancing and seeing how long you can do a headstand works your muscles just as well as any boring old weight machine.

So let your kids lead you and inspire you in this sense – watch them, imitate them. Play. Invent.

When you do this too (along with all that important discipline stuff) you get something you’d never expect to have in your very own home . . .

5.     Family fitness gives you an in-house set of personal trainers

Personal trainers can cost a lot. But it sure is nice to have someone getting you off your butt and moving!

If you work diligently to build family fitness into your family life you’ll be surprised to find you might not have to hire someone. And you don’t have to rely only on yourself for motivation.

Someone might ask you to play soccer with them. Someone else might suggest a bike ride. Or someone might just start jumping up and down the steps. And you have no choice but to join in.

Family fun!

Family fun!

A Final Family Fitness Thought

In February, my husband and I snowshoed up the little mountain in our backyard together. Every spot on the trail held a memory . . . Sturdy square little toddlers clambering up big rocks . . . Big Kids taking wild sled rides . . .pre-teens picking blueberries . . . and full teenagers swimming in the lake at the top.

We’ve climbed these hills with one child in my belly, kids on our backs, and with kids behind us on mountain bikes.

Today we have two confident and strong teenagers who get annoyed if we traipse off hiking without them (imagine that!)

Family fitness has helped us make memories and bigger muscles. But even more importantly family fitness has helped us build strong family bonds and healthy minds that will help us all take on our dreams and live life fully.

 

Sarah and her husband Cassius provide inspiration, tips and strategies for fitting fitness into your family life. Ready to get going with family fitness? Sign up for our FREE family fitness planning e-course.

 

 

 

 

 

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Comments

  1. This is such an important post. If we looked at fitness as a family project, something that creates cohesion and closeness, imagine what might happen to the obesity epidemic? My wheels are spinning at the thought of how we could start a “Family Fitness Awareness” campaign that could have a big impact on MANY lives!

    • Suzanne, so glad to have you in the “movement”. One of my gripes with the approach to childhood obesity had been that we’re putting the burden on schools and kids. This is a family issue – with family solutions! And – as I mentioned – many deep, hidden bonuses as well!

  2. This is such a good list. My husband and I are both active and it’s really important to both of us to remain so once we have kids. We sometimes find ourselves listing all the things we want to do with our kids that involve being outside and active.

    • Amanda, when I was pregnant with our first, this was one of our big concerns – how can we keep biking and hiking? It did take a little gumption and creativity – but you don’t need childcare to stay active once the kids arrive. Great that you’re dreaming and planning for that being part of your family life!

  3. I remember a hike up in our mountains when my daughter was about 7- she looked around at the wildflowers and running creek and said “I love this!” She is 26 now and she is an avid hiker/camper/yogi/runner/hooper. We do yoga together when our schedules meet up. I also was the a.m. up before dark (still am) runner before work-you can have the best of both worlds.

    • Love that you inspired your daughter so. I’ve noticed with our children that being active has become an integral part of who they are – ensuring that they will keep that going after they’re on their own. And yes, my husband and I go on lots of bike rides and runs w/o the kids too. (Although the kids get annoyed when they get back from school and find out about it!)It’s more about adding to the mix than one or the other.

  4. I love this – even though I still do the early morning hard core stuff on my own, I’m always trying to find ways that we can all be active together. Some days it is just a simple walk (plus I love the bonding that happens then!).

  5. My kids love being outside and keeping active, and when we had bikes, it was wonderful to bike with them. Exercising with family by playing together is the best way to pass this on.

  7. My kids hate child care so this has been key for us. Harder then when it was just me but more rewarding! We are still figuring it out. Lovely post.

  9. Doing outdoor activities with your kids really makes the family healthy and work as a team. I have always involved my kids in hiking,camping,and all sorts of other things, and they have grown to be healthy responsible teens. Great article

  10. When we were stationed overseas the Armed Forces Network used to play a commercial with Norm, “the all American Sportsman.” Old Norm’s natural inclinations were to sit on the couch and eat, but he eventually discovers that life is so much more fun when you get out and exercise and play. The tag line of the commercial was, “Life…be in it.” I think of old Norm every time my family hops on our bikes and hit the trails. 🙂
    Gaye

  11. During the summer we do a lot of camping together. We do a bunch of stuff in the wilderness but my favorite is that my youngest (15) and I both love to run and we do a bunch of 5k during the summer. He is much faster than I am but I love when he is on the sidelines cheering me to keep going!

  12. I agree, however, heading out to the gym is simply the only ME TIME I get at all … as a shift worker I’m either working, with the family, or working out … and I definitely try work fitness into my “with the family” time … but I’m one cranky mama if I don’t get some “me time” to release stress … so I could never give up my gym time!

  14. It is a struggle to have an exercise routine since I am very busy with my work. I like your post, which focused on family fitness. This reminds me that it is more fun to exercise with family since it gives me more chance to spend more time with them and to strengthen our family bonds. In the past, I like keeping fit with my family when we are playing tennis game.

  15. Hi
    Your so right here you are on a win win by exercising with your children why they are growing up. You get family bonding as you are doing activities together. You all get and stay fit and your children get in the right mind set about health that hopefully they will carry through out their adult lives.

    Such a good post thanks lee

  16. There is no doubt that you need to love and feel positive about whatever you are doing. Positive mindset will help you reach your goal and enjoy your life.

  17. You’re #3 is on point– “Fitness in general is nature’s best stress buster”. I couldn’t agree more. Running and working out definitely is my number one stress reliever and it is proven to help deal with stress.

  18. Getting fit with family and friends is the best. It give you some enjoyment while improving your life. Communication can also be improved by having positive things to talk about.

  19. I feel like this family fitness post shouldn’t be generalized to all families, I know whenever I work out with my mother we end up being competitive and at each other’s throats! This is probably something to start doing with younger children then when you grow into the habit I can see how that could be beneficial and bonding experience for everyone.

  20. Family fitness is truly the way to go – it makes keeping fit fun instead of a chore. I personally do not like going to the gym, I prefer informal exercise and when the entire family work out together, everyone feel motivated.

  21. I am all for fitness and keeping my family happy. Every weekend when the weather is nice i go for a long walk by the river with my toddler. We both love the fun and exercise together.

  25. Me and my husband go on a weekly picnic together but to reach our nearest park we have to cycle 12 miles each way. We enjoy the time together and the exercise. We always pack a healthy picnic as not wanting to ruin the weekly exercise. A little cycle together has brought us closer together.

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