Managing a rollercoaster of emotions
Jen turned to exercise to work her mind & body whilst furloughed
Date: 25 June 2020 Author: Energise Me
With lockdown throwing everyone's routines off track and the normal ways of getting active not an option, being active as a family is taking over! Sharon shares how her family are using lockdown to get active together.
Since schools shut, sports activities have been cancelled, the Leisure center closed its doors and the play park has become out of bounds, we’ve had a challenging, but fun, time keeping physically active as a family.
For me and my family (Ella 9, Oscar 11 and husband Colin) variety has certainly been what has helped us maintain our activity levels since our regular, football, hockey, athletics, swimming and running have been put on hold.
With restrictions in place and maintaining social distancing everything has been happening from our front door, in the home or garden. Normally we’d jump in the car and head off out to the Hampshire Countryside for a walk or bike ride, but now we’ve been exploring nearer to home. We’ve been out walking and cycling many many times over the past 5 weeks and have found lots of new and interesting places without a need for driving, I am sure we will actually look back fondly on our evening family walks across Bushfield Camp, Olivers Battery and surrounding countryside during the lockdown.
We’ve tried out various online activities too Joe Wicks, i-moves and change 4 life and a whole variety of YouTube links, we’ve also spent a lot of time in the garden playing, football, dodgeball, made up games and obstacle courses. One of the most positive things that has come from this enforced change of activity is we are actually spending way more time as a family doing activities together then we do in ‘normal’ life. I’m normally the taxi driver ferrying the kids to their sporting activities and squeezing in a bit of exercise when I can, I have probably done more exercise during this period than I normally do, something I would like to think we will maintain once this is all over.
We actually had some fun doing it together as a family. We would never have gone to a real gym together.
Obviously it’s not all smooth and easy going, I have to admit we have all struggled at various times with the motivation to get moving, it’s very simple to move just a couple of thousand steps when you are working from home and not going out. But the whole family have conceded that once we get going, physical activity re-energises us for another day at home.
What I have really learnt is that with just a small bit of direction the kids come up with some great games and ideas and this motivates them more than ever, and they jump at the chance to play their game or activity. Only last night with our evening walk cancelled due to the pouring rain I suggested we could have a home gym and the kids then started coming up with their own exercises and ideas, 1 hour later we had all raised our heart rates and cranked up our step rate for the day and actually had some fun doing it together as a family. We would never have gone to a real gym together.
No not the pizza delivery!
1. Let the kids lead the activity, they are so much more motivated when it their own and they have much better ideas than me!
2. We don’t need to drive to find nice walks and cycle rides there is plenty to do close to home.
3. Sometimes you just have to make yourself do it, because when you do you feel so much better.
4. There is just so much out there online in terms of kids and family activity its just finding what works for us.
5. Stay safe, healthy and active.
Helping us tackle inactivity to boost health and happiness
