Working Out with Children
A friend of mine, Jessica Storm, owns and runs Storm Fitness – a personal training company. She is a mom of one, runs her business and is one fit mom! I asked her to write up something for us on how to incorporate children into a fitness routine. Below are her thoughts on the issue and some fabulous tips on how to stay in shape with your children in tow. I hope you enjoy the article and please check out Jessica’s website at Storm Fitness!
Children are a great reason to GET MOVING……
Try not to look at your child as a reason to not exercise or an excuse to be “too busy” to exercise. As a busy Mom myself, I have tried to incorporate my child into my daily exercise routine and I use them as a reason to get moving. After all, I want to make sure I am in peak condition to chase after them, have fun with them and make sure I am around to support them for a very long time. The type of exercise you do with your child will have to change as they grow – just like everything they do, you will have to consistently adapt your routine. But look at this as a good thing – your body likes change and that will keep it seeing results.
Exercise Videos
If you have young babies that still nap, you can think about slipping in an exercise video while they sleep. There are great ones on the market right now or, you can even rent them from your local library or off netflix if you have a subscription.
Walk or Run Outside with a Stroller
If the weather is nice and you can get outside, take your baby out for some fresh air in a stroller for a long walk or if you have a jogging stroller you can try adding some running into your routine which is sure to burn up lots of calories.
Walking Exercises with Your Baby
Don’t forget about using your baby as a weight. You can do some walking lunges and hold her out in front of you gently raising her up and down in the air as you walk along – babies love that type of weightless movement.
Exercise Games with Older Children
As your children begin to get older, its a great time to start explaining to them the benefits of exercise. If they see Mom and Dad exercising and making it part of their daily routine they are more likely to stay in shape and maintain a healthy weight. Think about putting a fun outdoor circuit together for your kids that involves jump rope, cones, shuttle runs and jumping jacks. Whatever you do, keep it fun and the kids are sure to ask to do it again.
Get creative with older kids to keep their attention. A great game to play with them is called the “deck of cards” game. You take a deck of cards and label each suit a different exercise for example, the spades would be a jump squat, the hearts would be jumping jacks, the diamonds sit-ups and the clubs pushups. Each number on the card would be performed for that many reps. So, if you pulled a 10 of hearts you would do 10 Jumping jacks. You do this going through the entire deck of cards. To challenge the kids you could see if next week they can beat the time they finished in the week prior. Or, you could change the circuit up by adding different exercises to keep it challenging and fun.
Whatever you do, just remember the most important thing you can do to pass on good health to your Children is to put yourself as the number one priority and make exercise a daily part of your routine. They are watching everything you do and taking notes so be a strong and healthy example.
