Exercise is one of the easiest ways to improve your health and help you live longer, boost your self-esteem and generally make you feel happier and full of energy. While you know how important exercise is, there is always either something more important, or you are rushed for time, sound familiar?
If you’re a mother juggling children, work and a social life, exercise can be pretty low on your agenda, which makes getting and staying in shape especially difficult. The answer is to do it as a family. Incorporate family walks, swimming and outdoor sports into your lifestyle in a way that doesn’t make exercise feel like a chore or take up lots of time, or feel like exercise at all. Summer is just around the corner, so with more daylight hours after work it should make getting started easy.
How to GET STARTED…
Plan regular exercise slots for the week ahead then take turns in choosing what activity the family is going to do as a group. When exercise becomes a habit, your family will enjoy the routine and you’ll really start to see the benefits.
It doesn’t have to COST a thing…
Head to the park, play tag, hide and seek or throw a frisbee – as long as you’re moving enough to get your heart beating faster, you’re getting a good workout.
Get on YOUR BIKE…
Ride bikes together. If the children are just learning, jog alongside them while they ride. DOUBLE BONUS: Play learning games while you run, getting your kids to count the trees you pass when running/ riding together.
If the kids are too YOUNG…
If your children are too young to workout with you, try and use anytime you have free to yourself to work in some exercise, or incorporate it into your daily activities like jogging with the pram, chasing the kids at the playground or adding a toddler seat onto your bike and going for a ride together. Another idea is to plan a mothers group rotation whereby a few of you take turns looking after each other’s children while the rest exercise.
Did you know?
Despite the fact that almost every working Australian has some level of life insurance cover within their superannuation, Australia is one of the most under-insured nations in the developed world with only 4% of Australians with dependent children having adequate cover.