Exercise Yourself, Duh

Kids are always watching you and picking up cues on how to behave. If they see dad lying around polishing off entire sleeves of Tagalongs, well, your kids are probably going to do the same thing. But, if they see that you regularly exercise and find ways to stay active throughout the day, then chances are, they’ll follow your lead.

So the first thing to do to create a love of fitness in your kids is to lead by example and exercise regularly yourself.

Yes, finding time to exercise gets hard when you have kids, a job, and other adult responsibilities. But if there’s a will there’s a way. Wake up earlier if you have to; sneak in some exercise at the office with the Desk Jockey Workout; use your baby as a piece of exercise equipment.

When you’ve got free time at home, instead of vegging out in front of your computer, get up and do something. Pursue an active hobby like hiking, canoeing, intramural sports, or cycling.

Get your kids involved in your activities when you can. Take a family walk around the neighborhood; do some yard work and give your little one a small rake to “help”; go to a park together. Ingrain in your children the sense that, when there’s down time, that’s a chance to get up and move rather than just sit on the couch.

Shoot for at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a day. This could be a mixture of planned workout routines and a hodge-podge of other activities like walking, rucking, pick-up basketball, yard work, or roughhousing (see below).

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