Welcome to this series about Fitness at Home. Enjoy the ideas and principles. Enjoy the many benefits of good Fitness. Practice it well.
It’s a lot easier to get your family fit if you have a plan. Here are some ideas on how to develop a fitness plan for your whole family.
- Set goals
When you set goals for your family, it might help to have a family meeting so everyone can throw in his or her two cents. After all, these aren’t just about your goals for your family; these goals are also individual ones within the family. Ask your spouse and kids what their fitness goals are and write them down. If no one has any, then you can write some goals and post them in a prominent place. Goals might include:
* Running the community marathon as a family
* Losing five pounds
* Having more energy
* Building stronger muscles
* Fitting into a favorite dress or pair of pants
* Doing better in gym class
* Participating in a sport
- Make it a routine
Incorporating your fitness plan into your daily routine is important. It makes fitness a deliberate activity with purpose, and it helps everyone remember to do it. It’s a lot easier to do something when it is not a disruption.
So, find times when the family can work on their goals as individuals and together. For some, after school is a good time; for others, early morning before school or work. After dinner or the noon hour are other options. The key is to write it in to your daily schedule, so it becomes part of what you do automatically.
- Take family interests into account
You might find fitness plan ideas just by observing the interests of your family members and making suggestions of related activities. For example, did your kids just see a movie with a lot of action and martial arts? Are they running around the house mimicking the moves? Enrol the family in a martial arts class.
Is your spouse interested in football? Instead of just watching it on TV, see about playing football as a family at a local park or in your yard. For little children, throwing a ball or just jumping and dancing to music can be a fun and healthy activity.
- Input from everyone
Try letting family members take turns at choosing an activity for the day. This way, one family member isn’t stuck with the burden of trying to motivate everyone and come up with ideas. Individuals may be more interested in participating in an activity if they thought of it themselves! Playing tag, running races, playing tennis – whatever involves physical activity for an hour or so is fair game.
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Nick Thorne is the founder of NicksDigitalSolutions Limited a company that specialises in Education, Training and Writing. He lives in Levin, New Zealand