Fitness
Tips and tricks to get the family moving!
Get the whole family moving with these family exercise tips to keep your body moving and help improve both physical and mental health for all.
Incorporating exercise into your daily and weekly routine is key to improving your overall quality of life. Equally important is ensuring you keep your body moving throughout the day, as both help to improve physical and mental health
What better way to do this than to get the whole family in the groove and supporting one another. From working together to create goals for healthy exercise and body movement, to having easy conversations with the kids about the “why” and “how” to exercise, this blog provides a few ideas to get you started. Read on to learn more...
Talk to the kids about the benefits of exercising!
Integrating a regular and balanced exercise routine will provide long-term benefits that will contribute to overall health over your lifetime. Specifically, exercise will help with the following:
Exercise improves mental health - when we exercise our body releases a chemical called endorphins, sometimes referred to as, ‘our feel-good chemicals’. So, when you exercise and move your body, endorphins are released and improve your overall mood. Endorphins also help to reduce pain, stress, and improve sleep and energy levels!
Exercise helps to build healthy muscles and bones. Every exercise you do helps your muscles and bones to grow stronger, helping decrease the chance of injury while improving your balance and posture!
Exercise improves your overall health - research has shown that exercising decreases your chance of developing chronic diseases, decreases blood pressure and cholesterol level, as well as it provides improved heart health.
Exercise improves cardiovascular endurance! Exercise helps to build your lung’s and heart's ability to do more, so the more you do, the longer and harder you will be able to go in the future. Go for a longer bike, walk, or run, or play in that netball game a little longer.
Keep your body moving throughout the day!
In addition to exercise, keeping your body moving throughout the day is super important! When you move, you’re using all parts of the body, which work in unison together to keep you healthy and active! This allows your muscles and bones to move more which makes them stronger so they can work more fluently and effectively. When you sit around all day your body gets stiff and your muscles don’t get used as much - this can decrease muscle mass and bone density. Movement throughout your day provides a consistent way to ensure you are providing your muscles and bones what they need leading to a healthier lifestyle.
For example, if you exercise for 30 minutes of the day but sit down for the other 12.5 hours you are less likely to gain all of the amazing mental and physical benefits of exercise. So what can you do to improve movement throughout your day? Get up, go for a walk when you feel like you’ve been sitting down for too long, work at a standing desk for little bits of your day, use an exercise ball at your desk instead of a chair, take the stairs instead of the elevator, park a little farther away from the supermarket, instead of watching TV go outside and play! There are so many little things that you can do to increase body movement throughout your day that will make a huge difference to your overall health!
Families that exercise together, are healthy together!
As a family, work together to make exercising and moving your body a regular part of your day! Overall moving your body and exercising will improve you and your family’s quality of life in a healthy, balanced, and active way!
Things you can do as a family to increase exercise and movement in your household!
Brainstorm ideas as a family as to what you can do to move more and exercise together...
- Talk about how chores around the house are part of exercising. How can we do more?
- Have a step challenge between family members
- Create a family exercise and movement challenge
- Take turns as to who brings the garbage out
- Limit screen time in the day
- Incorporate movement activities that your family enjoys
- Find things that motivate your family to move, exercise and get outdoors
- Do online workout classes as a family from DediKate
- Remind each other to get up and move!
- Play active games instead of sedentary games
- Go for a daily walk as a family
- Do online dancing videos - You can find these on youtube!
Looking for ways to integrate talking about exercise with your family?
Here are some conversational questions and prompts:
- How do you feel after moving your body?
- What are different types of exercise?
- How does your body and mind feel after sitting on the couch for 2 hours?
- How does your body and mind feel after being outside playing?
- Why do you think we should move our bodies?
- Why do you think exercise is important?
- What is your favourite part about exercising?
- What ways do you love to move your body?
- What are ways you can move at home?
- How can we move and exercise as a family?