Exercise and staying active are vital for your longevity and overall health. According to Healthline, people should walk at least 10,000 steps or more a day. When you exercise, your brain releases hormones, such as endorphins that make you feel better. Finding activities that they want to do every day may be hard. However, when you have people that you love and trust to work out with, exercise can be a lot more fun and easily become a regular part of your life. Read this guide to learn more about the benefits of exercising with family.
You Can Prevent Injuries
While exercise is great for your mind and body, that doesn’t mean there aren’t some dangers involved. Even if you’re an experienced runner or weightlifter, exercise can come with certain injuries. You could easily pull your Achilles tendon, sprain a muscle, or in some cases, break a bone. However, when you have your trusted family and friends by your side, you have people that will look out for you and give you gentle reminders to stay safe while being active. One of the benefits of working out with family is preventing injuries by seeing other relatives set good examples.
Many people may be very tempted to just jump on the treadmill and start running as quickly as possible. However, if you see your sister or father stretching before you all start to go on a family run or bike ride, that will remind you to do the same. By properly stretching and staying safe while working out, it can avoid future trips to the physical therapist.
Your Body Will Be More Mobile
Some of the benefits of working out with family include staying more mobile and flexible. The more you work out, the more limber you’ll become. When working out with family and friends, time can pass by so quickly. That will allow you to do more exercises without realizing all the time that you’re putting in. The more activity that you do, the more your body will adjust to it.
However, if you develop some stiffness from working out too much or moving in the wrong direction, there are local chiropractic therapists you can go to. If another family member or friend is already getting chiropractic services, you can get a referral from them. Your local chiropractor can help other people in your family who might be dealing with the same issue.
You Can Explore Different Types of Exercise
Regular exercise goes beyond doing jumping jacks and aerobics. There are so many things for any active individual, group of friends, or family to try without getting bored. Whether your friends and family love the outdoors or are homebodies, there is a range of exercises you can participate in to stay active and healthy.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, walking is still the most popular method of exercise in the United States. One of the benefits of exercising with family through daily walks is that it’s free exercise to do. The only thing you need to go on a good walk is a pair of comfortable shoes. However, if your family lives or is vacationing near a beach, you can skip the shoes and go walking barefoot on the sand. In addition to getting those daily recommended steps in, you all can enjoy nature together.
Does your family own bikes? If the answer is no, don’t worry. It’s never been easier to rent bikes around the city. Your household or group of friends can join a local City Bikes program, in which you rent a bike and only pay for the number of miles you use. You can drop it off at designated spots when finished. Take advantage of the many bike trails around the country as well as different parts of the world. For example, if you take a family vacation to Amsterdam, most people there ride their bikes instead of driving cars.
Don’t forget about the benefits of swimming. An aquatic therapy session is a great way to bring friends and family together to enjoy the buoyancy of water. Water therapy is a great way to use water resistance to build muscle strength and strengthen your ligaments without straining them. Be careful using public pools as they can be a cesspool for germs and contamination. According to Pool Magazine, germs such as E-coli, Shigella, and Cryptosporidium can cause gastrointestinal problems. One of the benefits of exercising with family in the water is that someone will be there to remind you to avoid swallowing the public pool water and remember to shower before and after you swim in them.
Additional benefits of exercising with family and friends through swimming include having a greater chance of knowing someone who has access to a pool. With a private pool all to yourselves, it’ll be easier to have family swim matches.
According to Harvard Health, stretching, balance activities, aerobics, and strength training are the four most important types of exercise to try. If one or more types of these exercises intimidate you, having a group of family and friends together will encourage you to try them. Weight training can be one of the most intimidating workouts for inexperienced people. However, if you have a relative or friend who’s a pro at that, you’ll automatically have more of a comfort level and may not feel so subconscious about lifting weights at the gym as you would on your own.
You Can Bring Your Dog Along
Some of the benefits of exercising with family and friends include bringing all of your pets out for activity. While you can’t expect your cat to join in on the fun, the average dog is always up for a good time running, jumping and even playing in the pool. Don’t forget dogs are natural-born swimmers that may be able to swim better than you!
Some breeds of dogs need more exercise than others. If you have a cute little Chihuahua, they may not need as much exercise as high-energy work or sporting breeds. If you or someone in your family owns any canines among the Collies, Spaniels, Pointers, Shepherds, or Retrievers breeds, expect to take your dog out for regular walks and runs. According to Doggy Sport, a German Shepherd needs between 90 to 120 minutes of daily exercise, while a Labrador Retriever needs between 60 to 90 minutes.
There’s a reason why most people refer to their dogs as fur babies, They’re often considered a member of the family. Like any other member of the family, you want to ensure that your dog stays safe and healthy for as long as possible. By giving your dog regular exercise and fun activities, you can avoid having to look for an animal emergency veterinarian to treat them due to heart or weight problems. Like humans, dogs can suffer from ailments traced to a poor diet or inactivity
You Can Keep Each Other Safe
Do you or other people you know like to do early morning runs before the sun is even up? Or do you like to do nighttime runs once the street quiets down? While it can be great going for those early morning or late evening walks and runs, your safety may be in jeopardy at times. Sure, working out in an empty park or quiet street can give you more time to clear your head, but it may also make it easy for you to cross paths with someone charged with a sex crime.
One of the benefits of exercising with family who also enjoy early morning or late night runs and walks are you can do so together. Then you can all enjoy seeing the sun come up as you run. You’ll also have safety in numbers by working out with your family or friends. If something does happen, you’re more than likely to have access to some family attorneys that can help bring justice to the table.
You Can Add It to Your Itinerary
A lack of fitness scheduling issues is among the benefits of exercising with family as you don’t have to set up at the gym. It’s easy to incorporate fun activities that are good for the body and mind, along with other family excursions. For example, when you visit museums for kids during summer breaks, you’ll have plenty of time to walk around as you look at different exhibits. If your family goes out shopping together to prepare for the addition of a new family member, you can get some extra walking in by going window shopping as you search for nursery bedding.
Make use of the time you have after picking up the kids from school. Instead of going straight home, make an excursion to the local park and walk around. That’s also a good time to leave the car and use a bicycle to ride to school and back.
You Can Bring All Kinds of People Together
Exercise is for everyone. People regardless of age, culture, nationality, religion, size, and height can all come together to enjoy the benefits of exercising with family, friends, and community. Individuals and families can all come together to use fitness for a good cause.
Every year, different cities have walks and marathons to raise money and awareness for various diseases such as breast cancer, Aids, multiple sclerosis, etc. If autism treatment is close to your heart, you can likely find an event to raise money for, or you start a Walk-a-Thon on your own. Gather the family and community to join on the walk or cheer on the sidelines.
One of the biggest expenses in America is education. According to Statista, the average cost of a state college in 2022 was $22,690. Of course, out-of-state tuition is much higher. You can use exercise to raise money for Catholic Scholarships, Art scholarships, or sponsor an individual in your neighborhood. When it comes to the benefits of working out with family for a good cause, the options are limitless. Use family fitness to help people in your community and around the world.
Get Away From Electronics
Thanks to the revolution of mobile devices, laptops, and video games, most people have some electronic devices in their homes. It can be easy to get caught up in the online world thanks to the 24-hour news cycle. According to a Deloitte study, American homes have an average of 11 connected devices. Dependence on digital screens and media can make it easy for people to lose connection with each other, even within a household. One of the best benefits of exercising with family and friends is that you have to put the electronics aside to spend time together.
Unless you’re using the television or laptop screen to follow along to an exercise video, there’s no need to stay connected to too many devices when getting fit together. So, if you’re exercising inside with the family homebodies, you can use the abundance of devices to your advantage. Use a smart TV to search for a workout video on YouTube, and use it for a family fitness session. It’s a great time for the grandparents and children to test how well they can all do Tai Bo or beginner yoga poses.
Save Money
Reducing costs are among the benefits of working out with family. If one person is already a gym member, they can let someone else use a free pass to try it out for a few sessions or a week. That pass can give another relative the chance to see if gym life is for them before investing in a costly membership. According to Consumer Reports, some fitness clubs offer discounts to households with two or more people.
Regular exercise helps you be around longer to have fun with your friends and family. What better way to make it easier for everyone than working out together? There are many benefits of exercising with family and friends, but the best aspect may be just spending time together enjoying each other ‘s company.