How can I keep up with my kids on a hike or at the park?

Build the base first

Walk regularly at a pace you can repeat, then add gentle hills, a longer route, or a small backpack one change at a time. Hills ask more from calves, quads, glutes, and breathing than flat ground.

Step-ups, split squats, bridges, and carries are useful strength complements because they build leg drive, hip extension, and trunk control under a simple load.

Sources: Guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour, ACSM position stand: exercise quantity and quality

Use family outings as practice, not punishment

Choose routes with room to turn around, bring water, and take pauses before exhaustion changes your footing or patience. Progress can be a calmer recovery at the top of a hill, not only a faster pace.

If one parent or child has a different pace, the shared outing can still work. Adjust the route and expectations rather than turning it into a comparison.

Sources: Guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour, ACSM position stand: exercise quantity and quality

One safety line

Chest symptoms, faintness, severe breathlessness, repeated ankle giving way, or pain that changes your gait should be assessed before you keep extending distance or hills.

Sources: Exercise preparticipation health screening, Returning to activity after injury or surgery