Rush Blog

Rush Blog

Improve your family's fitness

27th November 2018 Read Time: 4 minutes By: Chloe Hall

5 tips to inspire the whole family to get off the sofa and moving, whatever the weather! 

Finding time to exercise and spend quality time together as a family can be difficult without the added complications of ferrying the kids back and forth to after school classes, weekend clubs, making tea and finding time to make that yoga class or go for a run. 

The Government’s recommended guidelines for school-aged children is to spend 60 minutes a day on moderate to vigorous physical activity, but a recent YouGov poll found that a jaw-dropping 91 per cent of children are failing to reach that target. 

Everyone seems to be busy doing their own thing, so wouldn't it be nice to spend more time together as a family and become more active?  Health and fitness is OUR thing here at Rush, we pride ourselves on being a heaven for kids and a haven for parents so put together our top tips to improve your family's fitness. 

5 Ways to Improve Your Family's Fitness:

Take the WHOLE family trampolining.  Trampolining is brain boosting, heart pumping family fun and a great cross-generational workout for the whole family. If you follow us on Facebook you might have spotted our video of 94 year old Dennis Burgess having a go on the trampoline during a family day out.  Trampolining is low impact so easy on your joints and gets your heart rate pumping in no time. 

Rush recommends...Start small and book a 30 minute session (we run 30 minute, 60 minute, 90 minute and 120 minute sessions at our park) and have a bounce.  Make sure you bend your knees and jump with two feet together and you're good to go!Save money on your visit together with our Family Tickets. 

Finding time to exercise outside of work or school can mean disrupting evening routines or early mornings (goodbye Sunday lie in!)  so why not think of small ways to incorporate exercise as a family into your day? 

Rush recommends...Why not sign up to your local park run - junior parkrun is a series of 2k runs for children aged between 4 and 14.  They are held in areas of open space around the UK, are open to all, free, and safe and easy to take part in. 

It's a known fact that we're more likely to stick to something if there's a social element or if we can sign up with a friend.  Even if you can only meet once or twice a week, think how productive you'll feel when you've ticked off exercise AND social time all in one go? 

Trying to get the kids off the sofa and away from their phones/ipads/xbox is a challenge within itself.  Spending too much time on screens has been linked to poor sleep, poor grades and a greater risk for obesity so it's definitely worth encouraging kids to move more. 

Rush recommends... Appeal to your kids' sense of fun and adventure where possible to distract them from whatever is going on from their phone. We love the simple but fun idea of parents vs kids mountain climbing!  Tie a rope around their waist and the other end of the rope around your waist, one parent holds the rope in the middle as you both make your way down the hill as though descending a mountain.  Your tech-savvy kids can film from the top and make a fun family film to share on social media as a fun memento from the day. 

Not only will the kids love it, exercising as a family can really boost your confidence and theirs!  Working out together can also transform the family dynamic as exercise releases mood-boosting endorphins, putting everyone in a happier frame of mind and feel better after a stressful day. 

Exercising together can also help the whole family bond and teach children useful lessons about working together. 

Make a pledge to work out more as a family this month, click here to tweet and share the news with your followers! 

Make a pledge to work out more as a family this month

Click below to tweet your pledge and share the news with your followers!