If you have a family fitness routine, it means that you will spend time with your family regularly. The problem of not spending enough (quality) time with your loved ones soon becomes a thing of the past. It’s also a better way to spend time with each other compared to passive activities such as watching TV, which does not leave one feeling rejuvenated; you feel fatigued after a 3-hour movie marathon.

Aside from the obvious health benefits of exercising regularly with your loved ones, having a family exercise plan also enables a family to try out new activities together and enrich their lives. Imagine this: if my brother had not been so insistent on out family playing paintball, my mother would never have discovered that she is uncannily accurate at hitting whatever she aims at!

Having a shared interest helps to forge stronger family bonds, the effect of which tends to be transferred to other activities and avenues in our lives, such as work or school. Similarly, a family workout can help put a bad day at the office into proper perspective.

Another benefit from working out with the family is that you have your own cheerleading squad. Unless a family is severely dysfunctional, each person would encourage another, who might be on the brink of giving up, into persevering with an activity and have fun while doing so, increasing the sense of achievement afterwards. If you don’t perform as well as you hoped to, you can usually count on your family to provide much needed encouragement.

Exercising together can also make a workout seem easier if you are new to exercise. This might be because people tend to feel safer and more at ease in a group when trying out something new. Thus, working out regularly with your family can actually cement your commitment toward fitness.

Of course, it’s also difficult to make sure everyone sticks to the family fitness routine between the holiday prep, shopping, and gatherings you attend, whether individually or as a family. Nevertheless, a small amount of self-awareness and determination will ensure that you enjoy the holidays and not groan with despair the next time you step on a scale.

Fit in fitness the next time you go shopping for presents. It pays to put on a pair of good walking shoes and to stride briskly through the mall as you tick off items on the shopping list. Parking spaces are usually more abundant further away from the entrance of the mall, which can be used to your advantage. By the same token, take the stairs or escalator instead of the lift, and carry your own bags to the car.

Conversely, you could also ensure you and your family have the time to work out by spending less time shopping. To accomplish this, you could buy fewer gifts, delegate shopping tasks, both of which will entail less time at the mall, or do your shopping online, which allows you the option of having a gift delivered directly to the recipient.

Another way to continue exercising together during the holidays is by fitting physical exertion into holiday-themed activities. For example, we walk around the neighborhood to admire our neighbors holiday decorations, and my aunt’s church organizes caroling parties where carolers visit one residential block each day of the weekend.

Most of the time, the holiday season is such that an evening workout is thwarted by last minute changes to a schedule. If this is the case, then it would be advisable to wake up slightly earlier each day, or make alternative plans to maintain a fitness routine.

Rather than joining a gym and face the risk of a gym membership being wasted through lack of use, try turning to the space you already have to promote a healthier lifestyle. If your backyard or garden is large enough, then you can play tag, soccer, or football. It’s easy to get everyone involved in such activity. In addition, you increase your heart rate almost instantly, and refreshments are only a few steps away. They are free to boot. If there isn’t any space, pack a picnic basket and head to the park.

Keeping active is easy when the great outdoors comes into play. Hiking and biking are the easiest way to involve the whole family; keep distances short if you’re just starting out, and work your way up from there.

It becomes easy to do more once you get outside, and it’s likely you’ll be planning a camping trip before long. Pitching tents and collecting fuel for the campfire will keep everyone moving. If there are rivers or lakes in the vicinity, then swimming is another activity the entire family can enjoy. Canoeing or kayaking are also available at such locations, and the cost is usually reasonable. If the weather is too cold for all of this, then you might want to try ice skating.

However, it can also become too cold to do anything outside comfortably. Chores are the answer in such a situation. No one has anywhere to run when it’s bitingly cold outside, and breaking tasks down based on rooms tends to make the time pass faster.

Why do chores to encourage family fitness? All that bending and stretching to pick things off the floor, not to mention doing so to ensure those hidden corners of a room are vacuumed thoroughly, will have you breaking a sweat more easily than you imagined. By the same token, shoveling fallen snow will have the same beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system.

Of course, this is like trying to lose weight by just exercising every day. The approach to improving your family’s fitness has to be holistic. This means changing eating habits that are less than ideal. Rather than imposing an outright ban on junk food though, which will lead to rebellion and failure, the soft option would be to present snacks that are more healthful, such as providing a variety of fruits instead of candy. Similarly, stop buying sweetened drinks, and encourage the consumption of plain water.

Another lifestyle change to make is to have breakfast together. If you’re uncertain of why breakfast is important, just know that skipping breakfast makes it harder for a person to lose weight. It’s not that it slows down your metabolism, preventing you from burning as many calories as you should, it’s just that it sets you up to make unwise food decisions during the day, because you’re starving.

Changing TV or video game habits will also facilitate family fitness efforts. If access to the screen is limited, then this allows more time for everyone to fit in a family workout, and wind up healthier as a result.

At the same time, these changes will be of no avail if you don’t take your own advice. If you have a habit of snacking mindlessly, you can’t expect the youngsters in your family to obey your directives while you’re reaching out for another chip, even if it is low-fat and oven-baked. Thus, if you say that fruit and vegetables are good for the kids, then you yourself should have healthy eating habits.

Likewise, if you tell your family that there’s no excuse not to exercise regularly, then it would look pretty hypocritical to a teen if you cancelled an early-morning run, because you kept hitting the snooze button on your alarm!

Often, time is one of the hardest things to pencil in when it comes to family fitness efforts. You could always schedule weekly workouts, but this seems impossible in the beginning, although there are other ways to find time to exercise together.

It’s true most people have something planned for practically every hour of the day, but it’s also possible to take just 10 minutes for a brisk walk. Starting with short blocks of time breaks down exercise into manageable portions. It also makes the idea of fitness less intimidating. Physical activity won’t appear so much of a chore, and it will be something to look forward to each day. It’s easy enough to convert a walk into a jog for a mere 10 minutes, and it becomes easier to increase the time spent exercising after that.

Another way to find time to exercise as a family is by exchanging something that is regularly done in the home but confers no physical benefit. In most households, this means not watching TV before dinner is ready. No one is immune to the lure of the idiot box, but realizing that the attraction often stems from boredom allows you to find an alternative activity that is both useful and fun, such as having a game of Frisbee or, if the weather’s too cold, a game of hide and seek around the house. Considering the running time of most TV programs, it’s an easy way of sneaking in 30 minutes of exercise practically every day.

Aside from this, make it a point to not use the car when you need to travel short distances together. This might not appear feasible if you have young children, although it does provide a form of strength training. Alternatively, there’s always the good ol’ standby of getting everyone involved in the garden chores from time to time.

It’s easier to form the good habit of exercising regularly together as a family if you set a goal. The goals you set should involve long and short-term aims for exercise. An example of a short-term milestone could be brisk walking for 30 minutes every day for a week, while a long-term goal could be completion of a 5K race. Each short-term goal should be relatively simple to reach, but the difficulty of each goal should be increased over time.

It also pays to commit to a time for exercising. This means defining a specific period each week to exercise together. Scheduling each exercise session allows you to approach it with the same commitment as you would an appointment, and means that you won’t skip it for a frivolous reason. A schedule also creates a routine, setting the pace for the rest of the day – whether you exercise in the morning or evening. You also give your family something to look forward to.

In the face of initial flagging enthusiasm, it’s always a good idea to provide positive motivation. It could be something as simple as praise for eating healthily or sticking to the exercise routine without fail, or a more substantial reward like a gift; however, this is akin to bribery, and should be avoided where possible.

It can be hard to be enthusiastic about exercising when your muscles are so sore that they threaten to seize up with every step you take. Fitness is achieved one workout at a time, and it is a rare routine that doesn’t encounter some obstacle or setback. The key to staying on track is to stay patient, keep your eye on the ultimate goal, and have the flexibility to work around any difficulty.

Fun is a big deal when it comes to getting the whole family to adopt the exercise habit. While it may be simple enough for one person to go for a quick run every day, a stroll through the park, or hike a nearby trail is more certain to keep a group interested. Similarly, a change of setting can make a difference when you want to overcome the unexciting routine of strength training at the gym.

Always have a plan

Everyone knows the saying about failure to plan being planning to fail, and this is particularly applicable when you want the family to exercise together frequently. Setting goals and defining schedules allows family members to keep track of fitness efforts, gauge progress that has been made, and stay motivated.

Aside from serving as a daily reminder of why you’re exercising together, goal setting and daily/weekly/monthly schedules also help stave off complacency. They’re also a record of activities that are more or less suited for families.

Maintain a sustainable tempo

One common reason many people drop out of an exercise program is that they try to do too much, too soon, and too fast. The same can be applied to getting everyone in the family in shape. If there’s one thing people resent, it’s being told what to do, and when. That means that family members new to exercise won’t take kindly to daily 30-minute runs in all weather conditions at X pace, even if you think nothing of it. Keep in mind that while slothful attitudes can be changed, it won’t happen overnight.

To ensure a successful family fitness effort, you must keep it enjoyable. Making people do something they don’t enjoy is more difficult to maintain than herding cats, as they say. In addition, exercising at a comfortable pace also minimizes the chance of overwork injuries from occurring.

Make it fun

If you have kids, you’ll know what it’s like to herd cats. The key to getting younger children involved in fitness is to show them that exercising isn’t a chore; it can be a synonym for “fun.” An example would be this conversation with my nephew:

Me: James, let’s go for a walk.

James: No, I wanna watch Thomas (the Tank Engine).

Me: James, wanna go to the playground?

James can’t put his shoes on fast enough when he hears that. We go to the playground, climb the monkey-bars, play hopscotch, tag, and/or hide and seek. All of these activities develop strength, endurance, balance, and flexibility. It sounds dry when you interpret it as such, so I try not to, and concentrate on having fun instead!

For one thing, exercising with your children (or parents) provides numerous opportunities to educate one another on the importance of staying active. It’s easy to talk about what healthy habits entail, and it’s also easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you’re setting a good example by just showing your kids or parents how dedicated you are to exercising.

The lesson won’t actually take hold unless everyone gets out there and gets moving. Organizing family exercise sessions is the one of the best ways to drive home the message that fitness is extremely important.

If left to their own devices indoors, most kids would devise their own entertainment, such as seeing how many cosmetic items they can pull out of a drawer before anyone notices. Older kids would be more interested in developing exceptional hand-eye coordination (computer/video games); however, having the family exercise together regularly creates opportunities for everyone to gain new knowledge and experience, while developing a new skill.

For instance, accompanying my mother to her weekly tai chi lessons has taught me an appreciation for doing things at a slower pace. I’ve also expanded my circle of friends, and have learned that most older ladies relish the idea of playing matchmaker for their young handsome sons/grandsons. I also know tai chi.

Exercising together is also similar to having meals together, only it’s easier to discern someone’s character from the way they approach a steep hill compared to their approach to brussel sprouts.

The simple act of going for a long run give the family a chance to connect and bond as a unit, developing camaraderie, cooperation, and understanding that can only come about through physical exertion. It’s probably like being a Marine, only without the constant heckling (unless you have a really mean trainer).

Use your family’s love of gadgets to your advantage. One of the simplest and most effective tools available is a pedometer. Fitness advisors constantly implore us to take 10,000 steps a day, as this generally translates into having carried out the minimum amount of physical activity recommended.

As most daily activities involve approximately 3,000 steps, the remainder must come from actual exercise, and that means getting out and sweating for 30 minutes. Consider making a contest out of it as a way to keep everyone enthusiastic about accumulating the highest number of steps in a week.

Another good place to start would be with a vacation where physical activity features prominently into the schedule. Lazing on the beach is enjoyable; make it a point to walk around the town as well. Not only will you get to know the area better and make some interesting finds, it also helps you to attain a decent amount of physical activity.

Hiking or camping trips are an excellent way of achieving this purpose as well. Even if you can’t get away from home for an extended period, there are usually a number of parks nearby that are perfect for daylong exploration.

One way to create a sense of unity is bonding through ignorance. This means signing up for an activity none of you has done before. It could be something as simple as basketball or meditative as Tai Chi or yoga. Kids are more open to new experiences than adults are, and the opportunity to take the lead in a novel situation will most likely generate an enduring interest in staying active.

Set aside one evening a week for fitness pursuits together too. Each member of the family, even the 6-year-old, gets to choose the activity. It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you’re exercising together. Having each person pick the workout prevents the burden from falling on the same person each time. It also averts tedium.

Pursuing fitness together not only keeps everyone happy and healthy, it also creates a bond between family members that is hard to disrupt. It might be difficult at first to get together 30 minutes weekly, but the rewards are tangible and lasting.

It’s easy to get kids involved with fitness, because all children can’t sit still. Planning activities is also easy if everyone is on board; however, the same cannot be said of families that have teens who’d be far happier in front of a screen, or parents who believe that exercise is for anyone younger than they are.

As a parent or child concerned about your loved ones’ fitness, you have to remember to keep the focus positive and on them (“You’ll feel so energized after this walk!”) rather than negative and on yourself (“Why do you make it so hard for me to help you?)”. Simple, but you’d be amazed at how easily and quickly it is to develop a martyr complex when things don’t go your way.

One method to increase family awareness of the importance of fitness is by having meals together more often at home. Children who share a minimum of five family meals weekly tend to develop better eating habits and are less likely to be overweight than those who don’t.

If your parent(s) is averse to fitness, family meals are your chance to make a difference. You can always start off with weekly meals and work your way up from there. Chances are your family will eventually come around, especially if they’re involved in the entire process – from shopping and preparation to cooking.

Another way to get family involved in fitness is to involve them in your fitness routine, such as by asking them to keep track of the number of laps you make around the block, or ask them what they think you should do to break seven minutes per mile. Disingenuous, yes, but eventually curiosity or sheer competitiveness will win out, and they will want to see just what’s so great about this exercise thing.

Getting your family involved in fitness, especially if you’re starting from scratch, is not something that will be achieved in a week. Stick to your guns; they can’t un-relative you, and they can thank you for it later.