Most of our weekends are mainly spent on shopping, cleaning, cooking, ferrying children around and finishing work you didn’t get done during the weekdays.

For the sake of our health and wellbeing, we need to reassess priorities and reclaim time for physical activities, relaxation and mental enrichment. Here are 12 suggestions for things we can do instead of the usual activities :

1. SET ASIDE ONE DAY FOR FUN

Never allow errands and work to occupy both Saturday and Sunday. On one of the days, visit a park, go walking or spend time playing badminton, basketball or other games with friends and family. Over time, you and your companions will come to look to forward to this particular day, devoted not to formal exercise but to enjoyable activities that you can do together.

2. SPEND AS MUCH TIME PLAYING SPORTS AS WATCHING SPORTS

May people have become addicted to watching sports on television or online. So why not take up this challenge : for every hour that you watch sport on TV, commit to 30 minutes of doing a sport or some other exercise. Gradually increase the ratio to one-to-one; that is, an hour watching, an hour doing. Nothing can be compared with taking part yourself.

3. JOIN A CLUB

Many outdoors organisations arrange regular group activities on weekends such as cycling, hiking, walking, birdwatching, taichi, yoga, qigong, hash runs and others. Enquire around at your local fitness, community centres or search online to find the right activities for you.

4. TIDY UP YOUR GARDEN

Many types of gardening, from digging to mowing, build upper-body strength and burn excess kilojoules. In fact, one major study found that gardening is the best type of physical activity for preventing osteoporosis. But to maximise the potential of this activity, place some challenges i.e. don’t make it too easy for yourself. For example, avoid using a leaf blower and use a rake. The more you use your own body, the more calories you burn.

5. FOR THOSE WHO HAVE TO WORK WEEKENDS – TAKE CALISTHENICS BREAKS

If you find yourself working at the office(or at home) over the weekend, take a 10-minute break every hour and do star jumps, lunges, push-ups and crunches. Over the course of the day, you’ll have exercised for more than 60 minutes! Not bad eh?

6. SHIFT WEEKEND DUTIES TO WEEKDAY EVENINGS

There’s no need to wait until the weekend to go to the supermarket, clean the house or mow the lawn. Make, say, Tuesday and Thursday evenings your ‘weekend duty’ evenings and get the housework out of the way then. That way, when the weekend comes, you’ll
have free days to do as you wish!

7. DESIGNATE EACH THURSDAY EVENING FOR MAKING WEEKEND PLANS

Start by getting the weather forecast. Next, detail your ‘must-do’ stuff, such as taking your child to a class. Then, be creative and bold by filling in the blank spaces with interesting and new activities. Get on the phone-make reservations, call friends or family to arrange get-togethers.

8. IF YOU MUST WORK, GET IT OUT OF THE WAY EARLY

A good way to reclaim your weekend from your work is to get up an hour earlier than normal, set the alarm for two to three hours later, stay focused, then, when the alarm rings, turn off the computer. The rest of the weekend is yours – with no guilt.

9. DON’T SLEEP IN

You may have every intention to bc active at the weekend until you sleep late, that is. When you spend half the day under the covers, it’s pretty hard to find time for fun and exercise. Therefore, make it a habit to get out of bed at the same time at weekends as during the weekdays. In addition to freeing up more time for your weekend fitness forays, you are also able to regulate your body clock better.

Once your body gets used to a regular wake-and-sleep schedule, you’ll fall asleep faste feel more refreshed when you wake up, and avoid that Monday morning ‘hungover’ feeling.

10. GO FOR A WALK FIRST THING IN THE MORNING

Before you become engrossed in the weekend Facebook or Instagram ’roundups’ of newsfeed and your breakfast, go for a walk. Once you return, you’ll feel invigorated and be more likely to be active during the rest of the day.

11. IF YOU CYCLE, GO FOR A LONG RIDE

During the weekdays you probably can’t ride much, but weekends allow you the luxury of riding for half the day or more. Scout out a local route or put the bike in your car and drive to a great cycling location.

12. TAKE YOUR FAMILY CAMPING

There’s nothing quite like the great outdoors to put your body in a kilojoule-burning state or to create happt memorable times for your children. After you have set up your site, look into other activities such as swimming, rafting and hiking.