The holidays are surrounded by many traditions, both spoken and unspoken. Families often have many traditions at this time of year, too. Some of them we like and others we would like to change.

This year, my husband wanted to start a new family tradition. He wanted everyone to meet at the park and play flag football. You see, he felt that as much as he liked turkey dinner, he missed the fun of all his nephews, siblings and family playing together. He wanted to have a way to connect and have fun together because he knew everyone had their own family traditions that they had to participate in later in the day.

So it was a special day of football, starting with frozen ground, a change of venue, a trunkload of old cleats to wear, some old T-shirts made into flags, and a whole lot of smack talk between cousins, husband and wives, siblings, aunts and uncles, and even a grandpa, who is 81 years old. In total, I think there were 17 of us, there were no injuries and no calls disputed, which was a miracle in itself.

As you move into the holidays and look at your own family traditions, consider adding some physical activities. I know it is hard to change tradition, but I would challenge you to choose some things to do that increase your activity level. Maybe a walk around the block to look at Christmas lights, bowling with your kids or ice-skating at the rink, or a local yoga class. One year, we had all the ladies in our family meet for Zumba class and then went for coffee together afterward.

Physical activity tends to make connections and bridge gaps so that communication can be established in an easy, unassuming way. Often when families do new and active things together, it breaks down barriers and releases endorphins, which helps create new memorable activities with no preconceived notions.

As physical therapists, our goal for you over the holiday season is to keep you active and exercising every day. So, enlist the help of your family and friends and follow these simple steps. First, set up a plan for the week on Sunday night as to when and where you have to be and what time of day will work best for you to exercise, whether it is a class at the gym or walking with your neighbor, in the early morning or after work. Then make sure you at least have 30 minutes for aerobic activity and 15 minutes for lifting weights, planks, bridging, etc.

Keep track of your progress for the month of December on your phone app. Try myfitnesspal.com. It is free and works well to keep you on task with your food intake and activity level. Use this tool for this holiday season to help you make a new tradition of taking care of yourself and the ones you love by increasing your activity level and reducing your caloric intake.

Sheree DiBiase, PT, can be reached at Lake City Physical Therapy in her Coeur d'Alene office (208) 667-1988, and in the Spokane Valley (509) 891-2623. Add new active family traditions this year to your holidays.