Group Running to Boost Family Health
For parents, maintaining good health goes beyond your own wellbeing to that of your children. You want to ensure that everyone stays healthy and that the incidences of disease are few and far between. Keeping an eye on everyone's health can be tricky, especially when hectic schedules reduce family time to brief interactions at breakfast and dinner. If you are contemplating how to create more family time, running is an excellent way of bonding and keeping your family healthy. Let's discuss 4 ways to boost your family health through running.
1. Improve mood
If you have teenagers in the house, then you are familiar with raging mood swings that can ruin your day and possibly last the entire week. Science tells us that these unpredictable emotions are a result of hormonal changes.
During puberty, the body has high levels of reproductive hormones such as estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone which make teenagers react more emotionally than adults. Running helps to increase the production of endorphins, a hormone that is responsible for negating emotional stress and inducing feelings of pleasure and happiness. Your moody teenager will benefit from running track or a jog around the neighborhood. Invest in a good hydrating backpack or a running backpack so they can carry essentials like mobile phones, keys, etc
2. Promote mental health
Mental health is another factor that most people overlook. The pressure of raising a family and balancing that with work commitments may prove overwhelming to parents. Sometimes, you may find yourself taking out your stresses on the children, who, in turn, will resent you for it. Discontent around the home is not likely to yield anything good.
Consistent workouts with your family not only provide an opportunity to bond, but also help to take your minds off the stresses of work and school. A little reprieve here and there will go a long way in making you a better parent and your family will be happy. This happiness will foster cooperation in simple activities like eating vegetables during meals or helping with chores after school instead of whiling away time in front of the TV.
3. Revamp social life
If your family recently moved to a new city for work or school, you may experience difficulty integrating into the new area and making new friends. Relocations are even harder for children who have to leave their old friends and join another school far from anything familiar. Almost every neighborhood has a couple of fitness enthusiasts who run or jog together. Signing up with a neighborhood fitness group is one way of meeting other parents and your kids will make new friends as well.
A healthy social life boosts the family's health by providing other forms of activity besides retreating to your new home. If you have teenagers they will appreciate being out of the home to hang out with friends. You can also arrange rotating play dates with other moms who have kids the same age as yours, and recharge your batteries by taking a steam bath, yoga and meditation, or even reading a few chapters of a book.
4. Curb lifestyle diseases
Regular running reduces the risk of contracting heart disease by lowering your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and keeping your weight in check. Research shows that long walks after consuming a meal laden with calories can help reverse the adverse effect on blood vessels. This idea is particularly helpful during holidays when people indulge in all kinds of food and drink that they would usually stay clear of.
Losing weight eases the pressure on your knee and ankle joints, thus reducing arthritis risks. This disease is not reserved just for adults or the elderly; children can fall victim to it too. Staying active is the best way to ward off arthritis.
Conclusion
Running as a group is ideal in promoting family health, and you instill a culture of physical activity from an early age. Join a local exercise group or schedule runs with family members.
