This is the final part of our 3-part series on the benefits of physical fitness to your children. Part 1 discussed the benefit of developing a positive attitude toward living a healthy lifestyle – you can read Part 1 HERE. In Part 2, we discussed the mental benefits that a multitude of children have seen simply by incorporating daily physical exercise into their lives. You can read Part 2 HERE. Today we are going to discuss one more benefit (although there are many, many more) of incorporating fitness into your entire family’s lives:

It gives us something to share.
One thing I love about my children doing CrossFit is the conversations we get to have. My children will ask me about the workouts I have done that day. They will ask to do a workout with me if we have time at home, or at the gym. They know what deadlifts are, and what kettlebell swings are, and how to do pull ups. We sit around the dinner table sometimes talking about fitness. What a wonderful thing to share! They see that we are active, so they want to be active. We are setting an example that will follow them as they age. They know to take care of themselves, much like we have.

Getting your child involved in fitness doesn’t have to be a scary or daunting idea. If they are not interested in CrossFit, find another way to workout together. Hiking, running, biking, or anything they find interesting. However, I find that when the parents are interested in something, the kids will be too. Find a way for your children to become active, so they will continue to be active adults. They are faced with so much as children already, and allowing them to lay around eating junk food and playing video games all the time (moderation is key) is not helping them prepare for the future. Kids are meant to be active. Let’s get them moving!

By Amanda Stewart, CFL1 trainer, contributing writer, #boymom

**We just started our January CrossFit Kids course at CF WOR – hop over to the CrossFit Kids page to find out all the details and get your kids signed up – there are 5 spots left!**