Becoming and staying active as you get older is an important step in making sure that you can live life to the fullest and are doing all you can to live a healthy lifestyle. Juggling obligations with your family and living an active lifestyle don’t need to compete with one another, as there are plenty of ways you can get active with your kids and family as you age. Before beginning any type of exercise or stretching routine, you should consult with a qualified healthcare professional or licensed physical therapist.
Take a look at some of our tips to get active with your kids and ensure you get the recommended amount of exercise in each week.
One of the best ways to get active with your kids and your family is to make it a priority in your household. Becoming and staying physically active with your kids and family can be a fun activity that encourages everyone to participate and engage with. Highlight the benefits that can be gained from getting active together and try to find ways to substitute normal routine activities with ones that will get you and your whole family moving.
A good example can be walking to your favorite restaurant or ice cream shop just down the road instead of driving there if it’s within walking distance. One of the biggest hurdles to overcoming a sedentary lifestyle and getting active with your family is to make it an important commitment in your life.
Another way to make physical activity a priority with your family is to try and find ways the whole family can participate and have fun. Do your best to try and find the activities that each of your kids and family members enjoy. If your kids enjoy going on adventures, then the whole family should consider going on a hike or visit a nearby park.
Other types of enjoyable activities can include going to the swimming pool together or going on a neighborhood bike ride. Each bit of activity can add up in the long run and will help you not only increase your activity levels, but create great bonding opportunities with your family.
As you seek to become more active with your kids, it’s important to remember that you don’t need to go 0 to 100 mph overnight to become more active. Focus on building up the intensity and duration of your activities each day which will help your body get acclimated to increased levels of activity and help you get in shape over time. By progressing incrementally, you’ll be able to build a solid foundation of conditioning and strength which will help you prepare your body.
The next thing you can do to make sure that you can get adequate amounts of exercise and activity per week is to open up your calendar and set dedicated times for exercise throughout the week. The CDC recommends that each person works to get a moderate-intensity amount of physical activity in for roughly 150 minutes per week. The entire block of 150 minutes of physical activity does not need to be condensed into one or two segments, and can instead be blocked however you’d like it on your calendar. If you’re busy, you can slot it in half-hour segments per day or you can carve out time to exercise every other day.
Setting dedicated exercise periods throughout the week will help you break up the activity however you need and you can make it accommodate your busy lifestyle if needed. The important thing is to make sure that you set aside dedicated periods throughout the week where you can solely focus on getting the recommended amount of exercise in per week.
Once you’ve committed to increasing your activity levels, the next thing you can do is keep track of your progress. When you’re setting dedicated time sections in your calendar for exercise, you can also add an additional notes section where you can track the activity you performed, how long you exercised, how you were feeling, and other miscellaneous notes you think might be helpful. Tracking your progress not only helps you keep track of where you are each week, but it can also help you identify the times when you’re being active and you don’t realize it.
A good example is all the ways you might be physically active throughout the week with your kids while doing chores or running around in the backyard with them. For instance, you might have dedicated periods of your day where you’re throwing the ball back and forth with your kids as they warm-up for their next little league baseball or softball game.
Don’t hesitate to keep a journal of your progress as you go through each day as it can all add up in the end to help you get over the recommended daily amount of exercise per week.
The next way you can work towards being active with your kids is to find a group that you can workout with. This group can not only help you when you’re going through your workout, but they can also hold you accountable and give you that extra bit of motivation when you’re looking for an excuse to avoid getting a nice workout in. Don’t be afraid to join a local class at your nearby gym to see if anybody would be willing to work out with you. Finding a group of like-minded individuals can be beneficial in keeping all group members motivated as you progress on your journey to become more physically active.
One common complaint for aging adults is that they often deal with aches and pains. Those aches and pains don’t need to slow you down and prevent you from being active or staying active with your family. Physical therapy is an effective treatment option for aches and pains which might be slowing you down. Seeking treatment for aches and pains when they arise will help you ensure that you don’t have to delay activities with the family.
Another way to make sure you’re getting active with your kids is to put tighter limits on television, tablets, and phones for both you and your family. We all soak up dozens of hours in entertainment per week which can include watching your favorite television show, sports, gaming, and surfacing our favorite social media apps. If you find that you’re spending countless hours each week consuming hours of entertainment, consider cutting back on television or supplementing it with other physical activities around the house like doing chores or getting your workout in while the entertainment serves as background noise.
Getting and staying physically active so you can be active with your kids and family often starts with making sure your body is healthy and able to do all that life throws your way. Alleviate the chronic aches and pains that can pop up as you get older with physical therapy. Our trained and licensed physical therapists are movement experts who can help you alleviate pain, improve and restore mobility, and help get you active so you don’t need to slow down when the kids want to throw the baseball in the backyard.
Schedule an appointment today at a physical therapy clinic near you to see how our physical therapists can help you alleviate pain and get active.
