Fitting exercise into your already busy schedule can seem daunting, especially if you have a family. But squeezing in some activity on a daily basis might be easier than you may think — especially when you try out some of the fun ideas below. Who knows? You might start a whole new family tradition.   

Set a family fitness challenge. Creating a simple and exciting family fitness challenge is a great way to get everyone in your home motivated to get healthy. For example, set a goal to increase your steps each day, and work towards completing a 5K run as a family. There are many events to choose from in our community, including the free Summer Fun Run Series from Hendricks County Parks & Recreation. If you want to stay up-to-date with these kinds of events, be sure to follow Hendricks Regional Health on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

Take a group bike ride. This family activity is a tried-and-true favorite because it can be tailored to kids of all ages. Another benefit is you can modify the ride length to meet your family’s endurance level. Plus, Hendricks County has so many paved trails, there’s always somewhere new to explore. As just one example, Plainfield alone has over 25 miles of trails.

You can find a guide to Hendricks County cycling by going to VisitHendricksCounty.org and entering “cycling” in the top right search bar. Have fun and don’t forget your helmets!

Make fitness a game with FitDeck playing cards. Illustrated exercise playing cards can help make exercise easy, convenient and fun. One low-cost example is FitDeck, available on Amazon.com. Each card shows an exercise with three difficulty levels to accommodate different abilities, and the Junior FitDeck game is tailored just for kids. It’s definitely worth checking out.

Commercial-cize. Does your family watch television together? During the commercials, get up and move a bit. Do some jogging in place, jumping jacks, squats, pushups or whatever strikes your mood. This will get you moving for a few minutes at a time, and those minutes will start to add up quick!  

Host a dance party. If dancing is your thing, get your groove on and make up some new moves by creating an indoor dance floor. Simply move the furniture out of the way and grab a couple of flashlights to create strobe lights. If you’re a music connoisseur, put together your own family dance party playlist. You can always find inspiration on Spotify or Pandora by searching “family.”

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