How To Make Family Fitness Mandatory In Your Home

outside of eating right, little else is as important to the health of your family as fitness. Being physically fit can add years of life, and not just life, but a healthy, joy-filled, exuberant life to everyone in the family.

Making fitness not only a priority but mandatory within your family is an important step to setting up your children for a lifetime of good health. Here are some ways to make family fitness mandatory in your home!

Set The Example

The best way to make family fitness mandatory is to start with yourself. Don’t give yourself an excuse to give up on physical fitness. Make good choices about what you eat as well as what physical activities you choose to do. Children are always watching the adults in their lives and will model the behavior that you demonstrate.

Movement Before T.V.

Screen time is one of the biggest downfalls in terms of physical fitness that we face today. Spending more than 4 hours each day sitting can literally double the risks of diseases like diabetes, stroke and blood clots. Some studies indicate a 125% increase in the risk of all cardiovascular disease. Keep track of screen time and require physical activity before screen time. Ten minutes of screen time should require 2 times the physical activity as a starting point.

Make it Fun

Don’t be a drag. People like to have fun. If exercise is fun, you’ll be more likely to do it and so will the rest of your family. Let everyone choose some of the activities and mix them up so that it’s not always the same thing.

There are so many different things that you can do from hiking, swimming, bowling, running, biking, dancing gardening, and being active as a family is a great way to bond and connect with each other and don’t forget to be creative!

Be Imaginative

You can incorporate movement into normally sedentary activities. Build a stand-up or treadmill desk, stand while talking on the phone, stand while playing video games, choose games that require physical activity or modify them to include physical activity. Make waiting in line at the bank fun by having kids do jumping jacks or squats. Do jumping jacks during television commercials. There is a chance for physical activity in pretty much everything you do.

Make it a Priority

Every single day is a new day. A new day in which you can make fitness a priority. When you wake up, make fitness your first choice. If you do something physical first thing, you’ll have set yourself up for the day to make great choices.

Make the kids part of it too by getting them involved in the morning exercise routine and healthy breakfast choices. Life can get really busy, especially for moms. But there are plenty of ways to fit physical fitness into your daily routine. It is easy said than done but it is possible!

Making physical fitness as mandatory as drinking water and eating right will improve your health exponentially. You’ll improve muscle tone, and cardiovascular health, and help maintain healthy weights. The truth is, your life and the lives of your family truly depend on fitness being a priority in your life and the lives of your entire family. This is the first time in history that the newest generation is not expected to outlive their parents. You and only you can change this statistic.