Childhood is a time of life that we tend to remember fondly. When we are children, we have an endless supply of enthusiasm for any activity, any adventure, anytime. As we become adults, we tend to stress and responsibilities become masters of our lives. We often forget to leave time to play and bring out our inner child. It is important to shake hands with the child in all of us and connect with our own children. We need to relearn to approach life as a big playground.
Children, especially in open environments, run, jump and climb over everything they encounter. However, as adults, what we do naturally is usually more passive. The key is to do unstructured activities that break our routine. Put the body in an unusual situation and practice skills, like climbing, swinging and jumping.
Whenever possible, get rid of your insecurities and go play, run, jump, lose your balance, etc. So, grab your kids, get outside, get yourself moving. In fact, the simplest location to achieve this is at your nearest playground, believe it or not.
Here is an example of a family fun day obstacle course on a playground:
- 10 Step ups on a bench
- 10 Bear Crawls
- Swing and long jump off the monkey bars then sprint
- 10 Frog Hop
- Crawl under all the Swings
- 10 Toe Taps on a Bench
- Pistol Squat with Swing
- 10 Star Jumps
- Monkey Bars (once across)
- 5 military crawls
Rest 2 mins repeat 2 or 3 times
As you can see, there is great variety of equipment on a playground. By exercising at the park or playground you’ll begin building better stamina, strength, and energy. An added bonus is that you’ll be modeling self-care and the importance of movement to your children, showing them that grown-ups still play and have fun, too.
Remember that it’s important to warm up before you do any physical exercise and just as important to stretch afterwards. If you REALLY enjoy bringing out your inner child, join us on course in 2021 for the most creative obstacles in the industry. We’ll see you in the mud.
