Being a busy mom often means less trips to the gym but that doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice your fitness altogether. Get moving with your kiddos to ensure all of you are staying active while enjoying quality time together and the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. As a mom of six, here are my top ten tips for getting your fitness on with the kids.
Keep in mind that you don’t need to try to kill yourself, simply focus on getting heart rates up and having fun while doing it! Pro tip: we come up with the exercises together as a family and vote on which we will do. I recommend always trying to include the kids in decision making when it comes to getting them on board with being active. They won’t even realize they’re working out because of the fun you will be having!
Bike and Picnics
One of my favorites! You can ride anywhere you want like a park, basketball court, community pool, retention basin etc. Turn it into a healthy picnic or even playing tag in a field before you bike back home.
Run Speed Drills
Set up cones (or even use sneakers as markers) out in front of your house for gasser drills. If this is too difficult then mix it up with a sprint to the first marker and skip back, 2nd marker and hop back, 3rd marker and lunge back, etc.
Curb Madness
Select three activities to perform on a curb and repeat four to five times. For example: mountain climbers, toe taps, or burpees. You can choose the desired number in each set, my kids love to make up names to go with exercises and choose the number that we get to do.
Play Catch
Something as simple as throwing a ball around or kicking a soccer ball being active for as long as you like, even if its only 15 minutes.
Underdogs
When my kiddos were babies I loved to do underdogs with them where I would push the swing and run under, then take a lap around the park one to two times and do it again. They always laughed so hard when I would push them high then watch me run.
Tramp Time
Going outside and jumping on a trampoline sounds SO simple and basic but really gets your heart rate up. Plus there are so many games you can make up when jumping on a tramp; some of my favorites are Hot Potato and Crack the Egg.
Park Obstacle Course
Create an obstacle course at your very own park. Most have swings, jungle gyms, monkey bars, and a ton more. You can lunge around the perimeter, sprint through the jungle gym, monkey bar back and forth two times and then side hop through the sand. I LOVE to do supersets of exercises and repeat them a few times.
Go for a Jog
My favorite thing about jogging is the fact that you can modify it to fit anyone’s needs. You can go slow, fast, walk, and even sprint and walk.
Jump Rope & Hula Hoop Contests
Setting a timer up and having a jump rope contest is one of the easiest yet HARDEST forms of cardio I do with my kids, my coordination has gotten better but oh my gosh my heart takes a beating. Lots of laughs add to the calorie burn as well
Family Room Plyos
My favorite thing to do inside is move all the furniture to the edges of the walls so we have a big open space. Think of ANYTHING you want to do with your kids at this time! An example of one of my favorite mini home circuits is running up and down the stairs 2 times, 50 jumping jacks, 15 burpees, 10 pushups, 25 mountain climbers and a one minute plank. We rest for 2-3 minutes and do it all over again. Sometimes we will switch the rotation and go backwards.
