A Parent’s Guide to… How to fit(ness) more exercise into your routine! 

On average, physical activity among children and adolescents has reduced by 2.30 hours per week during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Such findings are concerning given that the UK physical activity guidelines suggest that children should achieve 60 minutes or more of ‘moderate to vigorous’ activity per day! Yet, the closure of schools and clubs has made achieving these guidelines difficult. On top of this, sedentary behaviours, such as watching television and using tablets, may have increased due to the lack of available activities. Overall, lockdown 3.0 has meant that we are expending less energy than usual. 

But have no fear – BeeZee Bodies have put together three top tips on how to stay physically active with the kids during the current UK restrictions! 

Routines are key to forming healthy habits and lifestyles! To kickstart your routine, try planning ahead by thinking of the 3 W’s… 

When? 

Try planning out your physical activity schedule for the upcoming week!  

What? 

Now that you’ve planned when you are going to do these activities, plan what you are going to do. For example, you may wish to choose an online exercise class the night before or have written down some exercises down for the whole family to do together. This means that less time will be spent deciding on what to do, and more time spent actually doing the activity!  

Where? 

Plan where this might take place. Even preparing the physical environment for the activity will encourage the family to exercise activity safely and effectively. This could mean that the night before, you clear bits and bobs from a space in the house to allow adequate space for you and the family to exercise. Try sticking to your physical activity schedule each week, incorporating them into your daily routine!

The opinions of each family member involved should be taken into consideration when planning the physical activities. It is important that the activities are agreed upon to ensure each family member’s buy in! You may even wish to choose activities depending on your household goals – for example, increasing flexibility, having fun, improving attention and decision making, or strengthening muscles. Therefore, the physical activity will not only be beneficial for health, but enjoyable and something the family can look forwards to! 

Family roles play an important role in the promotion of child physical activity. Therefore, your children may be more motivated and inspired to exercise if they see their parent’s getting involved to! Lead the way parents!