Fitness :: Exercise Regimes for a Healthy Lifestyle

As moms sometimes there is not enough time to fit in an exercise regime. Becoming a parent doesn’t put a halt to the complexities of life. There are the regular responsibilities of shopping, working, and cleaning. That alone can make fitting in daily or weekly exercise a hassle, but then there’s the parent responsibilities that you love and at times kind of don’t love that seem to suck away the rest of your time. By the time you get a free moment, you might not feel like exercising that time away. Unfortunately exercise should be considered just as vital to you as feeding the kids or cleaning the house. Arranging time for you and the kids to exercise weekly will promote a healthier lifestyle for everyone in the family.

Why is exercise so important to incorporate into your daily or weekly routine?

Exercise is a vital part of a healthy family lifestyle. It keeps the muscles and bones strong, promotes heightened mental abilities and learning capabilities, wards of depression, and reduces the risk of diseases like breast and lung cancer, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Think of all the money you will eventually save on doctors’ bills, psychologist bills, and college money as you ward off disease and mental problems while streamlining the process for your kid to make it in the academic arena. On the less weighty side of things it might eventually lead to shedding some of that weight that has gradually accumulated over the years.

On top of all that exercising will allow you to be on a better footing to guide your children into a healthy life style. The food you feed them and the amount of exercise you engage in with them can become habits that follow them all through life. Some children who grow up in families that do not promote exercise still grow up to be amazingly active and fit, but I wouldn’t count on that. Think about whom you want your children to be, pretend to be that person, and eventually both you and your children might actually become them. And with all the benefits of exercise, I would say a little pain and inconvenience will be worth it.

How much exercise is needed?

Both adults and children need aerobic and muscle strengthening exercises each week. On top of that children require bone strengthening exercises. The amount of exercise required depends on the age of the family member.

For children from 6 to 17 the magic exercise number is 60.

At least 60 minutes of aerobic exercises each day with three of the days being more rigorous aerobic activities such as running.
At least 60 hours of muscle strengthening exercises three days a week. These can include gymnastics, pushups, and sit ups.
At least 60 minutes of bone strengthening exercises like jogging, jumping rope, and hope scotch three days a week.

For all you moms out there who just looked at the kids requirements and started to panic, the good news is that you don’t require that much exercise. I will list the amount of recommended exercise time per week below.

2 ½ hours of brisk walking or bike riding on level ground or 1 hour and 15 minutes of jogging or running a week.
2 days of muscle strengthening exercises to the back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, arms, legs, and hips.

Adults who exercise 7 ½ hours a week are less likely to die early. If either the recommended time or the 7 ½ hours seems like a lot, take it slow. If you’re coming into this without much weekly exercise, it is better to start under the recommended limit and work your way up.

Exercise Ideas

The good news about kids is that gym class and recess will take care of most of the physical activity quotas during some of the weekdays. It is still a good idea to schedule or spontaneously engage activities with the kids.

If your kids are video game fans, you might want to think about buying one of the move technologies that track real movements in order to work. This will change a sedentary activity into an active one. The kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they are exercising.
Play games with the kids like capture the flag, tag, and kickball.
Have your kids pick a sport to engage in. This will cost some money at first, but they will have weekly designated work out times while learning a skill they can use to get onto junior high and high school sport teams. In today’s environment extracurricular activities are vital to college applications.
Sign up for a gym that will give you access to running and weight lifting equipment.
Run, bike, or hike outdoors and enjoy the natural beauty all around you.
Take up yoga and bend and twist your way through strength exercises.

Together you and your kids can exercise your way into a long and healthy lifestyle with simply a few hours of exercise a week. Choose your activity and have fun. You’ll be more likely to continue if you do.

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