We’ve all been there, shouts of “Dad chase me!” floating through the house. But there is always so much to do, one more thing that needs to be cleaned, another email to send. How do you balance work, family and all the other responsibilities you have with exercise? And how do you teach your kids the importance of exercise without them feeling left out?
Sometimes instead of a structured workout at the gym with weights and treadmills you can do a simplified workout at the park, a family walk, a bike ride, or even tag in the front yard. You can show your kids the importance of working out and leading by example and create quality time with them during the week.
Have you done a park workout before? We like to find new parks for the kids to play at and see what different equipment they have that we can use. Some parks have pull-up bars you can utilize, some have hills that you can run up and down like stairs. When the kids are little, lifting them up onto the swing over and over can be a mini arm workout. And you can always get your cardio in by chasing the kids around no matter if there is equipment you can use at the park or not.
A family walk or bike ride around the neighborhood gets the kids out and about, gets that cardio in for you and maybe is a little bit of cross training if you have been doing weights earlier in the week. We love a good bike ride in our Madsen Cycle with all the kids sitting together up front talking.
Lastly, one of our favorites is playing in the front yard. Whether that’s tag, football, basketball or soccer, you can get a great workout by playing with the kids. What if you don’t have a front yard? You can go to a school field nearby and get that energy out, mostly yours not the kids. There are always ways to include the kids and get a workout in, it just might take a little bit of creativity. And hopefully you’re creating good habits together as a family.
