GETFIT Blog

Get healthy together

By Joe Downie, Certified Physical Fitness Instructor

Have you thought about how great it would be to include your family in your pursuit to exercise more regularly? Family exercise will improve the health of your loved ones, make exercise more fun, and at the same time develop stronger connections between all of you. With a little creativity, you can find a way to make it work for everyone.

How to start

First, decide what level of participation your family is ready for. If your entire family is committed 100%, you could go as far as setting up a Family Olympics. If it's a struggle to get your family to do anything together, starting out small might be the better option. You may simply focus on educating each them about the benefits of exercise—in a smart way. Bombarding them with stats each morning as they come down to breakfast might not be the best option. Put up a healthy living bulletin board in your kitchen (or use the fridge door) with articles and other resources that will help get your point across without having to say much of anything. For example, if one child is an athlete, an article about a successful athlete who commits to fitness could go a long way. Or, post a story about a young person who had trouble focusing at school but started exercising and saw an amazing difference. You are only limited by your creativity!

To see the full article visit Sparkpeople.com.