Exercise: A Family Matter
By Shane Olkus

Why don't you exercise as often as you should?

We guarantee at least 90% of you would list "not enough time" and "lack of childcare" in your top 3 reasons.  In our modern times, everything moves at light speed.  Quite often, the first thing to get dropped from our hectic schedules is our workout.

Ideally, we would be able to take our children to the gym with us. Alas, it is not an ideal world and few of us have the luxury of childcare at our health clubs (although this is becoming a popular amenity). If you can manage to get away for a workout by yourself, exercising is a great way to spend quality "me" time. However, if you can’t, we would like to offer some tips for incorporating a workout into your everyday routine without alienating the rest of your family.

* Remember that 20 minutes a day is all you need to get started. A workout need not take 2-3 hours.

* Work out at home. An entire program can be done with a set of dumbbells and a jump rope. It may be easier to find 10 minutes here and 15 minutes there, which you can do between cooking dinner and bedtime, etc. as opposed to going to the gym for an hour or so. An added bonus of working out at home is that your children see you exercising and will more than likely adopt the same habits.
* The quality time you may set aside with a spouse, friend, child or parent can be spent working out together. This serves two purposes – a.) exercising with a "buddy" is more fun and b.) you will motivate each other.
* Walk, run or bike to do errands instead of driving.
* Stretch often. Stretching requires no equipment and is necessary to maintain good range of motion in our joints. Children love to stretch with you because they are usually very flexible and this is one of the things that they can do better than Mommy and Daddy.

Start the Fitness Habit Young

All parents want their children to grow up eating right and exercising. Remember, our children, like it or not, pattern themselves after us. If they see us exercising regularly they will more than likely adopt the same habits.

Your children love to spend time with you. Take full advantage of this by having your children exercise right along side you. For example, go out for a run or walk while your child rides a bike or roller-blades with you.

If your exercise program involves weight training, your children can work out with small hand weights (1- 2lbs) just like Mom or Dad.

Instead of buying your child the latest animated movie, buy her an exercise video instead. There are numerous children’s exercise videos out there and when she’s stuck inside on a rainy day she can still get her daily exercise.

Youth athletics are an excellent way for your children to get plenty of regular exercise and they are lots of fun as well.

The playground is an old standard –tag, hopscotch, swinging and climbing are all forms of exercise that are fun; your kids can get a great total body workout in 30 minutes at the playground.

Teach your children to have a positive attitude towards exercise. Educate your children about the benefits of exercise and the dangers of not exercising. Allow them to make their own decisions on the type of exercise, and give plenty of positive reinforcement to encourage them.

Try to keep exercise light and fun. Avoid pressuring them to perform. Limit TV, computer and video game time – this will free up time for exercise. Finally, make exercise a part of your family’s value system! Just as you would not leave the house in the morning without brushing your teeth, you should not dream of missing your exercise time.

Submitted from Child Care Choices 'Parent Information Newsletter' " - Quality Choices for all your childcare needs." www.childcarechoicesinc.com