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Getting into physical fitness is hard work, but it is also excellent for your health and will lead to a better quality of life. You might be surprised by how well you feel after you try these 5 things – and if you involve the family, you can have fun together.
1). Try Stand Up Paddle Boarding
If you like fitness, fun, and a chance to experience nature out on the open water, stand up paddle boarding is probably the perfect water sport for you and for your family. It’s easy enough to describe, at least in terms of the basic concept: you stand on a board, a paddle board that is longer than your typical surfboard, and use an oar to paddle.
Stand up paddle boarding is more beginner-friendly than surfing, because the idea is to paddle on calm waters rather than catch a wave in rough waters. There’s no reason this sport can’t be fun for the whole family: even surfing can be kid-friendly, and stand up paddle boarding is easier to get kids into than surfing.
Of course, working the oar is also very fitness-promoting. You burn calories and build muscle in your arms and in your core.
While you might not think of fall and winter as the ideal time to get into a water sport, it’s the perfect time to grab a paddle board by taking advantage of Paddle Board Direct’s black Friday deals.
2). Try Yoga
Ah, yoga: what other fitness-promoting activity is so relaxing? Yoga is wonderful for increased flexibility, better muscle strength and tone, better breathing, more balanced metabolism, cardiovascular and circulatory health, and yes, weight reduction.
Yoga also has mental health benefits. If you’ve been struggling with anxiety, stress, and/or other mental health issues, yoga may be exactly what you need to clear your mind and help you experience inner peace, balance, and stability.
Of course, yoga is also the perfect thing to try with your family. You may find it helps rambunctious youngsters to calm down, and older children will likely appreciate the greater flexibility and the feelings of well-being that you get after stretching.
There are also many options for learning yoga. We’ve talked before about how you can promote your fitness with online yoga, and that may well be one of the best ways to learn.
3). Try Basic Bodyweight & Cardio Exercises
Sometimes the adage “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” is apropos, and one could argue that in fitness it is especially applicable to basic bodyweight and cardio exercises.
If you think about it, it doesn’t get much better than lunges, pushups, and squats. Lunges promote functional movement and leg and glute strength. Pushups promote strength and stamina in numerous muscle groups.
Squats are excellent for promoting lower body and core strength, as well as flexibility in the lower back and hips – and because of the way they engage some of the body’s largest muscles, they are particularly good at burning calories.
The whole family can benefit from these kinds of workouts, particularly because they aren’t that difficult to learn, but can be improved upon over time.
4). Try Hiking
It’s hard to beat a simple hike for value: all you need is a good pair of shoes and a place to go that will be reasonably interesting and worthwhile to walk in. This may sometimes mean driving away from the home if you don’t live somewhere that is close enough to a good hiking trail.
Even many neighborhoods may have good places to take a hike, in the form of sidewalks and parks. If you’re doing a family hike, this may be a good place to start, especially with smaller children, but don’t stop there.
Over time and as you are able, you can take the family on hikes that are more challenging. You might try trails out in nature, in state or national parks.
5). Backpacking
If you’re into hiking, backpacking is the next logical thing to try. In essence, backpacking is simply hiking with the addition of sufficient supplies to allow you to extend your hike and turn it into a camping trip.
Common backpacking gear includes sleeping bags, probably a tent, sufficient clothing – you will want to dress for the weather, night and day – and utensils and a camp stove, provisions – think dehydrated food, and water as well as a water filtration device with purification tablets.
As the above non-exhaustive list indicates, backpacking does take some gear and some careful preparation, but if you don’t mind the investment of time and care it can be an incredible experience for the whole family.
Conclusion
Whether you’re doing yoga in your living room or stand up paddle boarding on a lake or river near you, promoting physical fitness can be a tremendous amount of fun as well as something that you can involve the whole family with. Hopefully these 5 tips have given you plenty of ideas about where to start.
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