10 Tips for Working Out With Your Kids
Are you a busy mom? You might find it challenging to squeeze in fitness between rushing from work to childcare duties. Why not include the little ones in the fun?
You can take exercise with little ones in tow. Doing so benefits both your health, and it may make nap time easier to manage. Here are ten tips for fitting in a workout, even if you have a full house.
Get a Quality Running Stroller
You can take a walk with any stroller, but a quality running model will make exercising more comfortable for both you and your baby. You want to make sure that your version has a fixed wheel or a mechanism that locks it into this position to protect your child’s safety. The variety with swivel wheels can lead to accidents if one turns the wrong way while you’re running at a full clip. Additional features to look for include storage space and heavy-duty tires for everyday use.
Make Playground Equipment Double for a Workout
When your children are between the ages of two and five, their play tends to stay independent and side-by-side rather than interactional. Therefore, you can’t drop them off at soccer practice while you hit a Zumba class — what to do? Why not take them to the playground and let the equipment double as your gym? You can do pullups on the monkey bars and use lower-level tiers for triceps dips. You’re never too old to climb on rope ladders or go up and down the slide. Having a child permits you to act like a kid again.
Include Your Child’s Input and Make It a Game
What does your kiddo like to do for fun? If you solicit their input, you run a much higher chance of finding something that you both love to do. Their choice of activity will depend in large part on their age group.
However, don’t count your teenager out, thinking that they’d have more interest in being with their friends. Many teens will enjoy a Pound class or other group fitness activity, so see if they want to join you at the gym. If they don’t have a membership, many facilities will grant free guest passes to let them try a class on for size.
Make Fitness-Minded Friends With Kids
You know it’s tougher to flake when you have a buddy waiting for you to show up for your bike ride. However, if you have little ones, your non-mom buddies might engage in activities that aren’t appropriate for those of younger ages. You have probably made some new mom friends — why not talk to those who are also into fitness? Even if you don’t design a family workout you can all do together, you can alternate childcare responsibilities to give each other a break for self-care.
Sign Up for a Home Fitness App
There’s an app for everything nowadays, and fitness is no exception. When you sign up for a streaming workout service, the entire family can join in your workout fun for one low price. Plus, most services allow installation across multiple devices, so your teenager can keep a copy on their phone for when they want to sweat it up solo, too.
Wake Up a Little Earlier
If your children resist participating in exercise with you, you might need to adjust your schedule. However, all you need is 30 minutes most days per week to add up to the 150 minutes of moderate exercise experts recommend weekly. Can you wake up a bit earlier to get your sweat going? You might find you stick to your program better. While you can workout anytime, getting it out of the way in the dawn hours keeps other obligations from getting in the way.
Invest in a Fitness Tracker
You might get a substantial amount of exercise daily without knowing it. Why not invest in a fitness watch that keeps track of the miles you log daily chasing your little one around? Plus, there’s some good news — you don’t need to get 10,000 steps daily. Researchers investigated the claim and found that health benefits tend to top off at 7,500 steps daily, so you no longer need to feel guilty if you don’t log a full five miles.
Buy Some Equipment
You don’t need to find a sitter or use the fitness center daycare if you have some dumbbells and resistance bands at home. Resistance bands cost relatively little, and you can store them under your couch. When you get a moment to yourself to watch TV, challenge yourself to perform squats and chest presses during commercial breaks.
Consider a Local Rec Center or Pool Membership
Most community rec centers feature leagues for children, and some also have daycare facilities onsite if your angels are too tiny to participate in sports. If nothing else, many have pools and weight rooms you can use for a fraction of a traditional gym membership. As your children grow up, you can find a variety of programs they can participate in while you squeeze in fitness.
Engage in Recreational Sports
Finally, get the entire family interested in fitness by signing up for recreational sports leagues in your community. While many have different age groups, you can find something each member will enjoy. Do you need another reason to get your kids moving? Studies show that taking regular exercise can help boost academic performance in the classroom.
Make Your Workout Work for Kids With These Tips
You don’t have to hit pause on your fitness goals once you have a baby or two. With these tips, you can keep your entire family more fit.