Tips to Get Your Family Moving and Boost Fitness

(StatePoint) Regular exercise is an important part of helping to keep your family healthy and strong. Indeed, physical activity can help you live longer, improve your mood, reduce your risk for life-threatening diseases and strengthen bones and muscles, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

September 30 is Family Health and Fitness Day USA, and a good time to think about ways of getting the family to move more together. Today’s modern families may find incorporating new technology into their fitness plans will help motivate everybody to participate. Here are a few ideas.

Get on Your Feet

Whether it’s a rainy day or you just want to do something super fun right at home, you can make an afternoon of playing a dance video game. Many gaming systems support dance games, and these days there are so many choices featuring various dance styles and genres of music -- from hip hop to pop to Broadway. This is a super fun way to exercise that won’t even feel like a workout.

Fitness Wearables

Rugged, water-resistant wearable tech gear can enhance your outdoor fitness experience. For example, the WSD-F20 Pro Trek Smart Outdoor Watch from Casio features GPS plus a full-color map, altimeter and compass, helping hikers, mountain bikers and other outdoor adventurers take expeditions further afield. Low power consumptions GPS and location memory can help your family map your course and stay on track.

Movement Apps

New apps, many with a gaming component, can remind users to get on their feet and move at periodical intervals. Whether you’re on a family road trip, or you’re vegging out on the couch for a movie marathon day, simple notifications will remind you to pull over the car or pause the movie for a short stretch or walk. Many such apps even guide you through a brief routine targeting the entire body.

This Family Health and Fitness Day USA, find ways you can make exercise fun for the entire family.

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