Exercise with your kids
Childhood obesity is a serious problem in the United States and more than 13 million kids are affected by it. This condition can significantly affect one’s health and lead to various problems in the long-run. Nowadays, little ones spend too much time in their car seats or in front of a TV. Not only does this keep them from improving their motor skills and strengthening their muscles, but it also sets them up for a sedentary lifestyle. If you want to teach your kids about a healthy lifestyle, it is never too early to start. Instead of letting them eat a ton of chocolate and cookies every day, try serving them healthy snacks that are not packed with sugar and artificial sweeteners. If you want to make home-made treats that are delicious and do not contain so many sugary carbs, find interesting recipes and more info on garagegymbuilder.com. Aside from making sure that your kids switch to a healthy diet, you need to include at least an hour of physical activity into their daily schedule. This may sound tricky, especially if you don’t even find time to go to the gym. However, keep in mind that a workout doesn’t always require complicated equipment or lifting weights. With some clever strategies, you and your kids can get the exercise you need in a simple and fun way.
Turn TV time into a fitness activity
As mentioned, nowadays kids spend too much time in front of a TV. Instead of letting them sit still for hours, every time a commercial is on encourage your little ones to exercise until their show comes back on. You can invent funny names for simple activities such as squats or sit-ups and then do them together with your kids, or take turns telling each other what to do. As you might know, kids like to mimic their parents’ every move (sometimes just to annoy us) so use that to your advantage and play ‘follow the leader’ where they will need to imitate you while you perform simple exercises.
Organize a sports night
You probably have a deck of cards, right? Well, they are not just for poker games and magic tricks. Take the cards and assign one exercise to each suit in the deck. You can choose from planks, lunges, sit-ups, squats, bear-crawls, ape-walks and other family-friendly workouts. The card value equals the number of reps, so if, for example, you pick an 8 of hearts you need to do 8 sit-ups. Once a week organize a sports night with your family where each of you will have to draw a card and do the exercises until all the cards have been dealt.
Play in the yard with your kids
If you live in a house, use your yard as a fitness area. During the autumn have your kids rake the leaves into a big pile and then let them jump in it. During the winter they can help you clear the walkway and then you can use that snow to build a snowman. If your kids are still toddlers, even making snow angels will work their little muscles.
Do some gardening together
Children love to play in the mud and get themselves all dirty, so use their enthusiasm and put it to good use. If you need to plant new bulbs or vegetables, let them help you. Gardening is just as good as weight training and will keep you and your little ones in shape. In the summer, you can make things even more fun by setting up a sprinkler to water the lawn and challenging your children to duck the droplets.
Working out doesn’t have to be boring or feel like a chore. With these clever strategies, you and your kids will get to exercise on a daily basis without even noticing.