Exercising With Kids

As a personal trainer, the one question people always ask me is “How do I lose weight?” My own family is no exception – my sister struggles with weight loss because she has three kids to worry about before thinking of exercising. It’s often hard to find the time to do a good workout when you have to keep the kids entertained at the same time.

In situations like these, the best way to lose weight is to play with your children and do exactly what they do – crawl, hop, skip, jump, giggle. By exercising with kids, you are ultimately:

• Achieving your daily quota of exercise
• Having Fun
• Releasing Human Growth Hormone (HGH) which helps with weight loss and anti-ageing
• Using the 3 natural planes of movement, which stimulates brain function and overall wellness
• Burning calories
• Toning Muscle
• Increasing your metabolism
• Instilling positive health and exercise values in your kids

Whether they’re your kids or someone else’s, exercising like a 2-year-old is fun. Try to incorporate 45 minutes of exercise by doing exactly what your child does. I do this with my nephew and niece because I never have dedicated exercise time when I go to visit them.

Exercising as a kid means that if they swing on the swing, you swing on the swing. If they decide to run around the yard with the dog, you need to run around the yard with the dog. If you are doing this with more than one child, try a multi-task workout - do lifts with one while pushing the other on a swing.

If you are looking for something a little less impulsive, why not try all of the following exercises to give you a full body workout while still playing with the kids.

Squat Holding Toddler to Press

Hold the child close to your chest, being sure to keep a nice straight back. Bend with your knees and pretend you are sitting over a chair. Hold and then release back up into a standing position. Try these in repetitions of 10 – 12 each time.

Lunge to Pick up Toys

Lunges can get boring, and cleaning up is a chore, so why not make tidying the house with your kids fun? With your hands on your hips, propel yourself into a lunge and reach for toys to tidy up. Make this a great game and encourage your kids to join you to clean the room twice as fast.

 

Spiderman Crawl

Spiderman is buff, and it’s not just because he has special powers. Copy his workout by crawling on the floor like a baby – but don’t let your knees touch the ground. Picture Spiderman crawling along the ground – his elbows are arched by his sides and his toes propel him forward. You’ll feel a bit like a creepy-crawly in no time. Just make sure that you only try this on the floor – don’t get carried away and try it on ceilings and walls.

The Balloon Game

It’s simple and it can keep the whole family entertained for hours. Blow up a balloon and try your hardest to keep the balloon from touching the ground. Stay light on your feet and try dodging your kids as they reach for the balloon. When that gets too easy, keep adding balloons. See how many balloons you can add to the game until one falls to the ground!

The Batman Sprint 

Finish off your workout with the Batman sprint - just run. Race your kids from one end of the yard to the other, but make sure that you allow kids to have early mark start so you can really push yourself.

Soon you will be sweating, and burning as many calories as you would in the gym – but best of all, at the end of this workout you’ll get a tonne of hugs and kisses!