Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Fitness With Your Children

There’s nothing wrong with teaching your children the value of fitness.

My sons will tell you about the times they helped Daddy “cross-train” for marathon training as we road bikes, pulled wagons and did long “walks in the woods”.

Dividing parental responsibilities between spouses to maintain fitness activities is great. But take time to involve your children in your fitness efforts. Ride bikes, push strollers running or walking, go for long walks or attach the trailer to the bike. Your children will perceive exercise to be an important thing because they see their parents do it.

It’s nice too when your children get older and you can actually work out productively together! Working to coach my sons and educating them about my physical fitness activities has definitely made them more health conscious.

This post from Jennifer Forker of the Associated Press offers some great tips on parental fitness activities -- http://tinyurl.com/odlx7f.

3 comments:

Christine Luff said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Christine Luff said...

This is such an important message! I'm trying to set an example for my two kids, even though they're both under 2. I run with them in my jogging stroller and they come to watch me run at races. I hope that they grow up thinking that being active is a regular part of everyday life. I'm looking forward to a day when I can ride bikes, run, and play soccer with them.

Coachhrd said...

Amen - I'm hoping "lead by example" works too!