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Fun Ways to Spend Winter Days

Indoor Fitness Tips for Families

By Kelly Burgess

• Treadmills – While Sothern cautions this activity will become boring very quickly for most children, using it once in a while as part of an overall program of activity is perfectly acceptable. Children should be supervised at all times.
• Hand weights – Let them copy your routine, but with very light weights and fewer repetitions. Better yet, use a professional guide to help tailor a routine specifically for them that they can do alongside you.

Hendison believes modeling good behaviors is just as important as the actual movement for building a lifelong commitment to fitness. Here's some suggestions he has for helping children understand the importance of exercise:

• Exercise yourself. When parents make a point of setting time aside to exercise they send a powerful message that it's an important part of their lives. Even if children don't seem interested in formal programs, they're getting the message.
• Talk about it. Explain to children why it's important to move, just as you explain other lifestyle issues to them.
• Set aside an "official" family exercise time. This doesn't have to mean you're doing what adults see as "official" exercises, such as machines and weights. Any of the fun activities listed above can be part of an "official" exercise routine. Setting aside time reinforces the importance of exercise as a part of life. Plus, you're modeling exercise as fun, not just work.