SYNC Blog

Let’s talk about heart rate. What’s a good walking heart rate? Why does it matter? Your heart is a muscle, and like any muscle, it becomes stronger and more efficient when you use it. With regular exercise, your heart can pump a greater volume of blood with each beat, allowing oxygen and nutrients to reach your body more efficiently.

While parents and caregivers understand the importance of fitness, finding the time and motivation to get everyone moving can be a challenge. With so many ways to be active, it can be hard to know what’s best for your family. The key is to choose activities that everyone will enjoy—when exercise is fun, it’s easier to make it part of your routine for the long term.

Need to add a little pep to your step? Creating a fitness challenge for yourself, your family, or a community or colleague group can be a great way to stay motivated. Here are some ideas for walkers – whether you want an individual, family, or group challenge.

Kids walking to and from school is a great way to get parents and the family involved in physical activity. Children who live closer to school, and can walk to and from school, are more likely to walk to school and can get up to 48 percent of their daily recommended amount of physical activity. For others, a drop off site that allows for supervised walking of children before and after school can help increase number of steps walked.

Walking is one of the easiest and most accessible ways to stay active—it requires no special equipment, can be done almost anywhere, and offers benefits for both physical and mental health. Whether you’re just getting started or building up your routine, staying safe while you walk is just as important as getting your steps in.

Exercising in cold weather requires careful consideration of your clothing to stay both warm and dry—not only from the elements, but from your own sweat too. Here are a few tips to guide you as you navigate exercising during the cold weather months. These tips focus on the importance of proper layering and the selection of appropriate materials for inner, middle, and outer layers to ensure comfort and safety in chilly conditions.

If you’re wondering how to order your workouts, you’re not alone. Many people include both cardio and strength training in their routine but aren’t sure where to start. The good news – for general fitness, there’s no single “right” order. What really matters is staying consistent, balancing types of exercise, and prioritizing your energy for the activities that align with your goals.

People with mobility and non-mobility health conditions are less likely to be physically active, are at higher risk for chronic diseases, report more barriers to physical activity (e.g., traffic, crime, animals), and report fewer supports for physical activity (e.g., roads, sidewalks, paths, trails, relaxing places) than people without health conditions.

Walking is an excellent workout! It strengthens your heart, boosts lung function, tones your leg muscles, and supports bone health. If walking is the only exercise that is accessible to you, then by all means do it. However, if you’re able to do more, it’s a good idea to add some other types of exercise – especially strength training.

Families who participate in healthy lifestyles together have many positive benefits. The most benefits are seen when families co-participate in activities rather than just model the behaviors for each other. Co-participation is engaging in health behavior with your family and can lead to positive physical activity and nutrition outcomes.

The whole family is stronger together than each person on their own. Each family member affects the others, and this can even shape future generations. Families help shape what we believe, how we treat others, how we think, and how we take care of our health. This is important to keep in mind for both healthy and unhealthy behaviors.