Everyone reading my blog for some time knows how I feel about exercise and nutrition. I feel very strongly about teaching my children to exercise and keep their bodies healthy and strong. To me, it’s a life skill that they learn while they are young and will become a part of their lives as they grow. I was approached to publish an article written by Sarah Stevenson, a writer for Beach Body, about teaching your kids to love exercise. I knew it was something I would want on the blog to give everyone more ideas on how to implement exercise into their children’s lives. She has some great tips!
“Remember when kids used to love playing outside—and getting called to dinner was a drag because it meant the party was over? These days, outside is practically a foreign land and getting called to dinner just means looking up from their iPad. The result? According to The American Medical Association, “Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years.” It is time for parents to take an active role in their children’s health. After all, it may save their lives. Here are 5 ways to creatively integrate exercise into your child’s life.
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Make It A Family Activity Each Day: If you make exercise a group activity, you teach the entire family the value of health and wellness. This is also a great way for you to work out. Take turns choosing the nightly family adventure, allowing each person to feel like they are a valuable part of the activity. Your family now has a chance to bond and exercise. Long walks around the block, bike rides to the beach or even a race to see who gets to the park first can all be fun ways for a family to play together.
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Be A Good Example: “Do as I say, not as I do” never works when you’re trying to shape your child’s behavior. In order for your child to value exercise, you need to show them how important it is to you. Be sure that your child sees you exercise each day in some way. Keep your home equipped with fitness gear your child can also use. At home workouts, jump ropes and weights are all good examples. Beachbody has a great selection of workout routines and fitness equipment. You can also take them swimming, surfing or to your favorite yoga class. Head out to the store and buy them some cool workout clothes. Get them their own gym bag, yoga mat, and a yoga blocks. Make exercise part of everyone’s everyday life.
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Make Your Trips To School Fun: Sneak in exercise every chance you get. Instead of driving or walking to school allow your child to scooter, bike or roller skate. Help energize them before class by starting their day off in a really fun way. Roller skate to school together, drop them off, take home their skates and when it’s time to pick them up, surprise them with a different piece of equipment. Spontaneity is the zest of life and will get your children excited about exercise.
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Make It a Game: Who says working out has to be boring and monotonous? If exercise is not as stimulating as its electronic competitors than maybe there’s a new way you can go about it! Make an obstacle course in your backyard that requires running, hopping, pulling, lifting, crawling and other heart rate boosting activities. Pass a medicine ball—or “heavy basketball” as some kids call it—back and forth to burn some calories and build muscles. Your kids will be out of breath before they even know they’re exercising. Team sports are also a fun way to get consistent exercise in while teaching great collaboration social skills.
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Give Rewards For Consistent Exercise: Lock in a positive behavior with positive reinforcement for a job well done. Create a family name chart and hang it up where everyone can see it. Each day a person exercises, they get a star, check mark, or happy face. At the end of each week, everyone who received a star each day gets a reward. Take them to a movie, make their favorite dinner or find something that will encourage them to continue exercising. Just remember, according to developmental psychologist Deborah Stipek, it’s important you phase out the weekly reinforcement, eventually making it surprise reinforcement. Randomly choose a day to reward your child’s exercise habits. It’s more fun that way anyway.”
Sarah Stevenson, a.k.a., The Tini Yogini (http://thetiniyogini.com/), is a Certified Yoga Instructor in Southern California. She has a degree in Behavioral Psychology and teaches not only yoga classes but also life affirming workshops. She also writes for Beachbody, the makers of effective and popular workout videos, such as FOCUS T25.
One of my favorite tips from Sarah is to be a good example. I hope every day that my children see me exercising (even while pregnant) and remember it. They know the reasons why I exercise (it helps me get things done, gives me energy, makes me happy, keeps me strong and healthy, etc.) and I want them to always remember that and have the desire to do likewise with their children. The weather is warming up, let’s get outside with our kids!!!
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