As an adult, it’s likely you appreciate more than your teen the importance of a healthy living style.  Teens have so much on their plate—changing lifestyles, changing hormones, changing bodies, college applications, changing friends—that regular exercise and a healthy diet usually doesn’t take top priority in their lives.  But the fact is that studies prove that those who start exercising young will be much more likely to continue to be physically active for the rest of their adult lives.  So getting your teen to exercise can be as important an investment in their future as that college fund you’ve been hoarding.

But actually getting your teens to follow a fitness routine is another story.  You’ll probably have a lot of difficulty achieving any consistency in your teen’s exercise regime if you have nothing but endless hours on the treadmill in mind.  You’ll have a lot more success if you make their exercise routine fun and not so much a chore.

As children, many teens may have regularly participated in community sports and games, but as they get older, teens’ willingness to participate in sports decreases for a variety of reasons, especially among teenage girls.  Eliminating competition from games can go a long way in luring back those who don’t like to play because they don’t feel “good enough” to win at the games.  

Encouraging your teen to participate in non-competitive sports can also be effective.  Such activities could include skateboarding, in-line skating, rock climbing, snowboarding, skiing and dancing.

Teens are more like adults in that they should aim to exercise at least three times a week for 30 minutes at a time in order to maintain a healthy schedule.