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As parents, we all intrinsically know how important daily exercise is. After all, for many of us, we’ve been hearing about exercise’s importance for nearly all of our lives. Despite knowing how important it is, many parents will admit that their daily exercise routine is the first thing to fall to the wayside when life gets busy, tough, and challenging, and as parents, we can all relate that life is rarely not tough.
Isn’t that wild? We all know how important exercise is to our health, but at the end of the day, we’d rather do things for our families and homes than do something positive for our health and livelihood. It often isn’t until we have a major health scare or emergency that we get our acts together and try to reverse years, if not decades, of neglected health.
Probably the singular reason that more parents cite than any other, regarding why they don’t regularly participate in an exercise routine more days than not, is time. We all have the same number of hours available to us in any given day — 24 — yet many of us can’t seem to manage to “find the time” to exercise, even when we know it can make a huge difference for our health.
What’s a parent to do, then?
My solution, I think, is the best one I’ve encountered and one that will benefit everyone in your family, not just you.
What is it, you may be wondering? It’s simple, really: exercise with your family. Involve your partner and children in your exercise routine more often than not. Doing so will not only confer health benefits for you, but it’ll also do the same for the rest of your family, and exercise — in whatever manifestation it takes — can be an excellent way to secure some quality time with your family.
Below, I’ll describe in more detail some additional guidelines that can help you involve your family in your exercise routine. Really, it’s a win-win solution, if you think about it: not only will you finally be able to actually take care of yourself and your own health, but you’ll still be spending quality time with your family and, in the process, model for them positive and healthy behaviors that they can later emulate.
Some tips to involve your family in your exercise routine include the following:
Keep it simple. When you’re exercising with your family, don’t overthink it. In fact, don’t even think of it as exercise, per se. Instead, think of it as “play.” Think back to your own childhood and all the games you used to play with your friends or on the playground at school. Easy, pick-up games like basketball, soccer, tag, or simply playing on the monkey bars or climbing on the playground equipment can be a great workout. Your kids will love that you’re actually playing with them and aren’t simply scrolling mindlessly on your phone, and as an added bonus, you’ll be doing something positive for your health.
Teach your kids something new. Depending on the ages of your children, you may be able to teach them a new game or sport and involve them more in your exercise routine. For example, if your children are old enough to ride bikes, with or without training wheels, you may find that you have a companion for some leisurely bike rides! Similarly, if your children like to go on walks, consider taking them to an area forest preserve or park to go on a nature hike. Again, you don’t have to worry about going fast or traveling far, particularly if your children are little, but if they are old enough and sufficiently mature to handle a challenge, you may want to consider teaching them something new — like learning how to ride a bike or go roller-skating, for example — that can be a great catalyst for parent-family “playtime.”
Train for an event together. There are plenty of kids’ triathlons and running races out there, and it can be a lot of fun to train alongside your child for the same event: the child for the youth event and yourself for the adult version. While there are differing opinions on the appropriate age that children should be before completing such arduous events like 10ks or half marathons, most physicians would agree that children can benefit tremendously — physically, emotionally, and psychologically — from participating in a youth-focused event. Come race day, you will be each other’s loudest and most ardent cheerleaders, just as you were in the weeks and days leading up to the event. It can be an amazing way to bond with your child.
Do something accessible at home, like yoga. Finally, depending on the age of your children, many parents enjoy doing at-home yoga routines with their kids. There are tons of yoga options available for free online, and many of them are catered to families, children, or even pregnant women. The nice thing, of course, with doing something at home is that it will take very little time or energy to prepare in advance, and provided you have a reliable internet connection, you and your family can do it whenever you want — even if it’s late at night and everyone’s in their underwear.
What’s most important to remember when it comes to involving your family in your exercise routine is being patient and being flexible. Things can change in an instant, and sometimes, as parents, we have to go with the flow and adapt. It’s certainly important for your health to develop an exercise routine that you can complete more days than not, but sometimes, even with your best-laid plans and best of intentions, life will intervene and preclude you from hitting your workout goal for the day. That’s ok. Don’t get down on yourself if you can’t do everything that you’d like to in any given day, and hope for the best for the next day. Ultimately, do what’s best for your family and for you, and in time, I’m confident that you’ll be able to develop a routine — and put systems in place — that will allow you to better address your health needs.
AUTHOR’S BIO: JANE GRATES
Hiker and a sports enthusiast. Performing at the sweet spot between beauty and intellectual purity to craft delightful brand experiences. I sometimes make random things with friends.
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