Trainer Spotlight “Fun Workout Ideas for the Whole Family”

TRAINERSPOTLIGHT Tara Littlejohn OCOTILLO PERSONAL TRAINER

Fun Workout Ideas for the Whole Family

We all know modern day life makes it difficult to stay moving. Working from home, social distancing, binge watching TV series, increased stress, and unhealthy food choices can all contribute to a sedentary lifestyle and declining health. And whether we realize it or not, every household contains its own unique family culture of health-related habits. Ask yourself: is your family culture a healthconscious one? Are your daily patterns supporting a healthier lifestyle? Daily decisions vary from family to family, but every decision either contributes towards health or away from it. But the good news is with a little awareness and planning, every family can design their households to be more movement-centered and health-conscious!

The Hard Truth

Today about half of all American adults have one or more preventable chronic diseases. And most of these chronic diseases are positively affected by regular physical activity. yet nearly 80% of adults are not meeting the minimum movement guidelines. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends adults do at least 2.5-5 hours of moderate-intensity or 1.25-2.5 hours of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity per week. But did you know frequent, every-day movements can add up to improve you and your family’s health in big ways?

Getting Started

To get your family in motion (pun intended), you want to first sit down with your entire family and agree on some exercises/activities of popular interest. Listed below are some fun workout ideas for you and your family of all ages and abilities. Choose fun, lightly competitive, and realistic activities to ensure your exercise efforts are safe and successful. Next plan on preforming these workouts on the days and times you and your family already spend quality time together. You want these times to be realistic. If you don’t spend enough quality time together, this is a big area of opportunity! Think of sedentary activities that can be reduced (less screen time) and replace with 30-60 minutes of activities most days of the week. Finally, write out the planned activities on either a large calendarstyle white board located in a common family area or place workout ideas in a cookie jar (or a fruit bowl) for random drawings (this can be especially fun for smaller children).

• Post Dinner Walk or Run: • Random Dance Party: • Sit-Up Contest: • Frisbee Dodgeball: • Push-Up Contest: • Wall-Sit Contest:

Get moving!

I hope that you got some family workout ideas to get your family active and enjoying time together. Remember, regular exercise is an essential component of a healthy lifestyle. Strive to meet the physical activity guidelines while keeping things fun! Together, you and your family you can inspire, motivate, and keep each other accountable towards the road better to health. Now let’s get moving!

Family Workout Ideas: