Healthy parents

There are many ways to stay fit, even if you can't make it to the sports club or gym. Even small steps count; it doesn't have to be a sweaty affair. The secret is to incorporate more exercise time into your daily routine. The following tips will give you some ideas:

• Walk as often as possible: accompany your child to school on foot instead of driving him or her. Walk to work, or at least part of the way, by getting off one stop earlier, for example.
• Do smaller errands such as going to the bakery, post office or supermarket on foot or by bike. This often does not take much longer than by car.
• Every step counts: Arrange with the colleague in the lunch break to go for a walk in the fresh air or meet with the girlfriend instead of in the café to a walk in the woods nearby.
• Leave the car more often and take the bike. This will exercise your cardiovascular system and your thighs.
• Take every opportunity to strengthen your muscles and get your heart rate up: instead of taking the escalator, sprint up the stairs, visit your colleague in the next building on foot instead of picking up the phone. Or do some calisthenics in front of the TV during the daytime news.
• Design the everyday walks with your child varied, for example, with small betting games: Who manages the fastest to hop on one leg to the next lantern?
• Maybe you can manage to get up half an hour earlier in the morning? You can use the time to jog for 20 minutes, do a Nordic- walking lap or do a home workout.
• When you go to the pool with your child: Do not sit on the edge of the pool, but go into the water yourself and do some aqua fitness exercises while watching your child.
• Relaxation exercises such as yoga help to train muscles and at the same time deal with the challenges of everyday life more calmly. Free exercise videos are available on YouTube.
• A short morning meditation helps to start the day relaxed; in the evening, even a few minutes promote better sleep.
• You can even exercise your muscles while brushing your teeth each day by alternating between standing on one leg or tiptoeing a few times.

To do "real" sports on a regular basis, fixed appointments and rituals help. Together, it's easier to overcome your inner obstacle. For example, make an appointment with a friend for a fixed jogging or walking date each week. On another day, it's your partner's turn. If you prefer to exercise alone at home, you should think about a fixed time that can be easily integrated into your daily routine, for example a time slot of 30 minutes once the children are in bed.

There are plenty of ways to get moving again together with your child. Depending on the weather, mood and desire, you can, for example, play badminton in the garden or turn up the music in the living room and do some stop dancing. If you want to go for a jog, your son or daughter can accompany you on a bike. Or you can create a sports lesson together in the nursery: first your child leads an exercise, then you - and so it goes on until everyone is out of breath.

The weekend is for relaxing - but not only on the sofa! Make the family time as active as possible, preferably in the fresh air! Explore the surroundings together on a bike tour or cycle to a particularly beautiful playground, go on a night hike with flashlights or take an extensive walk in the woods. Exercise with other families is especially fun. Ask friends and acquaintances who would like to play soccer or badminton in the park. After such a "moving" weekend you will start more relaxed and elated in everyday life.

Active parents have active children: If your child experiences how you run after the ball, practice push-ups and cover everyday distances on foot or by bike, it benefits in several ways: On the one hand, it is motivated to move itself and, on the other hand, it gets to know movement as a matter of course. So if you as a parent are regularly active and set an example of the joy of movement, it is highly unlikely that your child will grow up to be an exercise slacker.