LET YOUR FITNESS GO TO THE DOGS (...AND BIRDS AND COWS)
WE HAVE all heard the saying ‘never work with children or animals’, but when it comes to getting active, our friends from the animal kingdom could be exactly what we need to get up and moving.
Not only are our four-legged pals great companions when it comes to accompanying our exercise, but we can also use local wildlife to get the whole family excited about being outside and active, whether that’s bug finding, heading out to a farm or going on a Gruffalo hunt!
With that in mind, here are my top tips to help you and your family take advantage of all the ways four-legged and feathered friends can keep your mind and body active.
FOUR-LEGGED POCKET ROCKETS
DOG lovers are all too familiar with the health benefits of owning a pooch. Not only are they wonderful companions, but you have little choice but to get up and out every day to give them a walk.
This daily exercise is nothing to be sniffed at! While a walk doesn’t get your heart pumping like a spin class, getting out and about every day will be great for your own and your family’s health.
Just walking with your – or a friend’s – dog will get your heart beating faster, and the mental health benefits of being outside with your furry companion are endless.
Of course, if you don’t have a dog or you aren’t confident looking after one yourself, you can always head out and see how many dogs you can spot on a walk.
One idea is to go to the park and, rather than heading straight for the play area with the kids, see how many dogs you can spot in a loop of the park before you head to play.
If you or your children are nervous of dogs this could be a great way to familiarise yourself with them without getting too close – and you never know, if you spot a friendly looking dog on regular occasions you may even fancy heading over and saying hello.
Our four-legged and feathered friends can help boost our health, says RUTH LYNCH
RUN BUDDY
ANOTHER advantage to a dog is that it can encourage you to pick up the pace, with lots of joggers choosing to take their dogs with them on their runs for this very reason.
Not only will they keep you company, they may help you beat your personal best.
If you’ve never run with your dog, or never run before, then you can still give it a go.
Just like humans, dogs need to build up their stamina, so doing something together like Couch to 5k – where you build up from running