Ever since I had Sunshine, I’ve been trying to find an easy way to exercise with toddlers hanging around me.
When we lived in northern Alberta, the local pool offered moms n tots aquafit, which was awesome, but I haven’t found that anywhere else (most pools have too many moms to offer in-pool childminding for toddlers).
Biking with the girls in a trailer is, well, a LOT of exercise, plus sometimes a lot of whining from the back. (And when I’m out breath from pedaling, it’s hard to issue dire threats about what will happen if they don’t keep their hands to themselves).
Most of the time, I get my exercise by piling them into the stroller in the late afternoon (when they’re bored and tired) and walking down the steep hill to the beach and back up again. However, there’s a Starbucks at the bottom of the hill that sometimes makes the trip there and back negligible, if we’re looking at calories lost.
Then I saw this on Pinterest:
Bingo. Something I can do from home, anytime, that doesn’t require a huge time commitment or exercise equipment. And something I can get the girls involved with. Or at least not bored out of their minds and whining at me. They think it’s funny to try what I’m doing.And believe me, it’s a workout. The first time I tried it, I was sore for a week, and I don’t often get sore from exercising. I couldn’t even complete the whole 15-minute workout. I’m working up to that…
While exercising, I turn on the girls’ favourite CD and they try to do the exercises with me. At first, I tried timing the workout as suggested, but realized it was better to be flexible. Now, I do one exercise (say, jumping jacks) for as long as their interest holds (or until I run out of breath) and then start something else (like running in place).
Another idea I’ve tried is home workout videos.. Like the poster, these get the girls involved and can be done at home. The workout videos vary the above workout a bit and offer more tips for doing each exercise. Now, if I’m short on time, I just go through the quick routine in the poster. If I have a bit more time to exercise or feel like trying something new, I’ll turn on a video.
Overall, it achieves two objectives for me: I get to spend time with my girls and I get some exercise.
How do you fit in exercise with toddlers?
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7 Comments
I turn on the videos! My kids are either still asleep, or just woke up and are feeling lethargic. They are entertained by the extra 20 minutes of screen time haha while I get my workout. This didn’t work so well when they were younger and didn’t care about TV…. My oldest likes to exercise with me. He tells me how hard it is, but also tells me how I’m doing it wrong lol!
Jenni – it’s a fun, fast workout. 🙂
Laborofwonder – I’ve heard other friends recommend the wii. That’s too funny that your kids can participate on the broken board! Perfect!
Kimberley – yeah, it’s harder than it looks and it’s easy to do anytime, at home, so I like it. 🙂
I’ve seen this floating around on Pinterest and wondered if it was really worth it. Thanks for sharing!!
It is hard to keep up with exercising when you have little ones. I like to pull out my wii fit. Thankfully, we have one wii board that works and one that doesn’t. So while I’m using the working on, they can copy cat me taking turns on the other!
I am definitely going to have to try this. Thanks so much for linking to Mommy Monday! 🙂
Jo – my girls now say “let’s do jumping jacks!” (Even though they can’t quite!) You’re right that a variety of exercise is good; I should try biking and swimming too. If you can’t do jumping jacks, substitute something else – I do a “skiing” move I learned in aquafit where I scissor my legs as if I’m skiing and swing my arms. Or just do an extra set of running on the spot. 🙂
Juliana asked me the other day why I don’t exercise any more. Touché, my girl! I need to get back into that. She wants me to use the Wii Fit. I want to bike ride. Really, I should do both! That exercise you found looks great! Except for the jumping jacks…I can’t do those.