5 Activities That Are Ideal For Family Fitness

Keeping up with an effective fitness routine can be challenging for many reasons, with a lot of people believing they simply don’t have enough time in the week. It’s this way of thinking that has caused the increase in the number of children and adults in the UK who have been classified as obese.

But working out doesn’t have to be a drain on your schedule. One of the simplest ways to get you off your feet is to workout with your family. The Telegraph reports that more parents are encouraging their children to workout with them, especially now that children are more focused on video games and social media accounts.

To get you and your children off the sofa, here are some of the fun activities you can do to achieve family fitness and have some fun while you’re at it.

Explore Nature Parks

There’s an abundance of nature parks in the UK and most of them are free of charge to enter. Whisk your kids away for the afternoon to a park near you. Bring along a few outdoor toys like frisbees, kites, hula hoops and skipping ropes. Instead of watching your children from afar, join in on the fun. You can also turn park instalments like benches, swings, and even trees, into a mini obstacle course.

Take Prama Classes

If the weather isn’t cooperating, you can try indoor activities like taking a Prama class. Prama is a great full body workout that looks like a cross between an arcade game and a playground. It’s designed to train speed, agility, mobility and strength. It combines upbeat music and lighting, which makes exercising more engaging. This is a workout suited for both adults and children to do together.

Join Local Marathons and Charity Events

The Independent made a list of the 50 best family days out, and included activities like beach-combing, trekking with llamas and going on ghost walks. But if the family doesn’t feel up to those adventures, you can always join local marathons and run for a cause at charity events. You not only introduce your children to a healthier lifestyle, but you also encourage them to give back to society. Read about our swimming challenge for Aspire here.

Do a Bit of Gardening

Practically any activity can be turned into good exercise. If you have your own garden, get your children outside and encourage them to help around. They can carry small sacks of fertiliser, rake the leaves and pull out weeds. Watering the plants is also a great exercise as carrying the watering can around is a good way for the family to burn calories (using the hosepipe doesn’t count, ha!).

Go Cycling

I highly recommend taking the entire family on a cycling trip at least once a week. It’s an easy and healthy low-impact exercise, a good muscle workout and a fun way to get fit. Your children won’t even feel like they’re exercising. Cycling also has multiple health benefits like increased muscle strength, improved posture and coordination, decreased body fat levels and decreased stress levels.

Cycling doesn’t cost much either and bike maintenance is easy. All you need is a good quality bike, a basic set of tools, protective gear like helmets and knee pads and if you have the space a good bike shed. The bike sheds presented on Screwfix show how they can come in various sizes depending on your family. It is important to make sure that the bikes are not left outside. Storing them in sheds will make them last a lot longer and equal more family trips.

I believe that each child is unique and if you’re struggling to get your children to workout with you, letting them choose their sport might just be the key. Your children have their own interests and when you let them choose their own activities, it gives them a sense of freedom and more motivation to explore and discover new things. With the wide array of fun indoor and outdoor activities available now, there really is no reason for you or your family to live a sedentary lifestyle.

Mutha Fitness

Mutha Fitness is a blog to share my weight loss story so far. I'm a 30 something Mum embarking upon a journey of general health, fitness and overall wellbeing.