5 Tips For A Healthy Family Weekend

By the time the weekend rolls around everyone usually feels flustered, frustrated, and fatigued after a long week. You and your spouse may have stressful jobs and your kids have plenty of homework. So, it’s not unusual for your family to indulge in endless web-surfing, TV watching, or other binge habits to destress. 

But what if your family tried a different strategy to recuperate after a long week, like trying out some healthy and fun activities as a family?  

Here are five ideas on how your family can stay active over the weekend: 

Go Paddle Boarding 

Think of how much fun it would be to try recreational paddling. An inflatable stand up paddle board is versatile enough for surfing, fishing, calisthenics, and yoga. You can also paddle with your dogs and your friends. What’s more, you can get a giant paddleboard big enough for several people. 

Go Running or Power Walking 

The great thing about running or power walking is that it’s a minimalistic way of getting in some vigorous exercise. You don’t need special equipment or special facilities. All you need is athletic footwear, light clothing, and open space. You can run around your neighborhood or power walk through the mall.  It doesn’t have to be hard, either. You can start out slowly to gradually condition your feet, ankles, and legs. As you build stamina over the weeks, you’ll find it easier.  

Setting goals and tracking your results will motivate you to keep on improving your athletic performance. When you have a strong incentive, you’re far more likely to get increasingly better at how far and how fast you walk or run every weekend. 

Go Camping  

Never underestimate the fun of camping.  You could splash around in a lake, or go canoeing, or explore nature trails. Instead of fretting over the chores of pitching your tent, building a fire, and cooking simple outdoor meals make it into a self-improvement project to see how efficiently you can learn to do the job. Camping is a perfect way to create happy family memories. 

Go Biking  

While enjoying short bike rides to stay fit is fine for the week, focus on long bike rides over the weekend. Since you no longer have to be anywhere to get things done, you can spend hours leisurely biking around your neighborhood or city. You could also load your bikes onto your car and drive out into the countryside to find a scenic biking route. 

Organizing Your Weekend Adventures

There are several ways you can organize your weekend adventures: 

1. You could do several activities over the course of a weekend or double down on just one activity. 

2. You could try different activities each weekend or focus on one activity and get increasingly better at it. 

3. You could do it alone as a family or do it with friends or join a group. 

4. You could do it in a familiar location, like your neighborhood, park, or city, or in an unfamiliar location, driving out of town to find scenic areas. 

5. You could do it every weekend or intermittently. 

Benefits of Healthy Family Weekend Activities 

Civilized life is stressful. Each week takes a toll on your health, energy, and mood. If you have any problems, they can seem intractable, getting worse by the week. 

The reason common weekend activities don’t reset your mind and body is that they’re often based on sedentary habits that don’t stimulate you enough. 

Spending time outdoors doing something challenging, active, and fun will refresh you. Your physical energy will get a boost. Your emotions will calm down. Your mind will be more capable of unraveling the complexities of your life situation.