With childhood and adult obesity on the rise each year, I am always delighted to get a call to ask to help get families started on their fitness journey.
More often than not it is the child or children that spur on the parent in their new fitness regime. However people come to the decision, though, it is a good one so let’s get started.
My first piece of advice would always be to make it fun. If you don’t enjoy it, you aren’t going to stick with it. Second, don’t go at it too hard as you need to be able to make sure everyone achieves something.
Be realistic too. Everyone is different. Nine times out of ten, mums in their forties or fifties who come to me for some guidance are not going to be able to do the same things as their twenty-something gym-regular daughters. And vice-versa.
Whatever your goals, getting holiday fit, maintaining stamina, or just feeling better about yourself and spending time together you need to mix it up so that everyone gets what they need out of it. Maybe focus each session on a particular muscle group or take it in turns to lead the session and choose the activity each time. If one family member is the leader for the week, then they set the plan, consider everyone’s commitments and also keep the focus!
There’s so much to choose from; running, cycling, walking, yoga, circuits, football, sports day, swimming… the opportunities to get moving are endless.
If you are a particularly driven family or just need that added incentive, try Strava. It’s great for running and cycling, for example, and checking out your times versus the others and even having races. Warning: it can get competitive!
I have seen more and more families coming together to get active over the years. It is great to see. The important thing to remember though is that wherever you start from, you have chosen to begin your fitness journey. Where it takes you, I can’t tell you, but I can tell you that small achievements grow into bigger ones. What could be better than spending qualty time together and burning calories? Ok, so I am a little bias but I don’t think I am wrong…
