Exercise is a big stress buster for me and I got in the habit of being active when I was in my teens.  My husband hated physical exercise and avoided it like a cold plate of spinach for years.  Since we moved to Utah, though, the sunny days and gorgeous landscapes have inspired him and he's got into a regular walking habit.  We frequently walk together, or with the kids as a family, hiking on the weekends.

When he was hurt at work in April, our family workouts took a big hit.  Now that he's post surgery and needs to regain his strength, flexibility and endurance, we've again taken up the family workout.  But working out as a family is no longer a stress reliever for me, it's a stress inducer.  Here's why.

My daughter is a book worm, and is naturally very sedentary.  My son tends to be more active, but revolts against organized exercise.  He'd rather get it in the course of play.  So when it's time to go for a walk, my son instantly develops extreme ankle and foot pain and my daughter switches into full tween pout and whine mode.  Once we actually get out there, my daughter keeps trucking along and enjoys herself.  My son falls further and further behind, dragging a leg in a very exaggerated, made-up ankle or foot injury, until he flat out refuses to walk another step.  I start out offering a reward if they go a certain distance, but after awhile, I go into threat mode.

We also have indoor workouts using hand weights, a yoga mat, and a big exercise ball.  I turn the radio on to the kids' favorite channel and hubby and I get going.  My daughter lays on the yoga mat and flops around like a wet noodle doing movements that require no muscle power whatsoever.  My son will do a couple sets of push ups and sit ups and that's the length of his attention span.  The other night, I was trying to get my daughter to do a modified kind of sit up, and she refused to use good form--flopping back down and letting the weight bang on the floor.  When I told her she was required to do 15 using good form, she dissolved into such heavy sobbing one would think that Taylor Lautner (hunky werewolf from Twillight) had died in a car accident.

So what's the deal?  How can I motivate my string-bean-armed son and my floppy daughter to not just do their exercises, but to enjoy them?