{28 days} Exercise with your Kids [22-28]
Featured Writer: Alaina Holland is our fitness expert from Holland Family Life – She has been kicking our butt with some fun fitness exercises to do with our kids. If you miss the other exercises in this series you can find them here Part 1 , Part 2, Part 3. This is Part 4, and we are now at the end of our series of Get Fit: Mommy and Me. I hope you have enjoyed getting fit with your kiddos.
You now have a total of 28 ways to combine playtime and fitness.
{Day 22} Hit the Floor: abdominals, arms, back, gluteus, legs
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Focus: Total body cardio toning. Begin the exercise by standing with your hands above your head ready to hit the floor. As fast as you can, move into a squat position on your toes and support yourself with your hands. Immediately after that go into a plank position keeping your head in alignment with the rest of your body. Right after the plank jump back up to a full standing position and repeat. Have your kid join you and challenge them to keep up or if they are old enough to try to beat you in the amount of repetitions you do. My child wanted to just lay underneath me on the floor. 😉
Do: 3 sets of 12-15 repetitions each set.
{Day 23} Yoga Kid Style: legs, arms, abdominals, back
Focus: Fun stretching moves. First show your child what the downward dog position is in yoga. You place your hands flat on the ground while you bend at your hips with your feet also on the ground and your buttocks is up in the air. Keep your arms and your legs both straight as you feel the stretch. Encourage your kid to join you and do the same thing. Mine again, would rather lay underneath me.
Do: 5 stretches holding each stretch for at least 30 seconds.
X-Tra: In the downward dog position lift one leg up off the ground to form the splits in the air for an additional stretching challenge.
{Day 24} Balance Challenge: abdominals, arms, legs
Focus: Muscle control exercise. Roll up a blanket to create a balance beam on the floor. Show your kid how to walk just on the beam with care. Lift left leg out in front of you and back down while balancing. Switch legs. Encourage your kid to do leg lifts, summersaults, or other tricks on the beam.
Do: 3 sets of 12 leg lifts on each leg.
X-Tra: You can leg lift forward, side, backwards, and a combination of all three for complete leg toning. Switch from bent knee to extended leg as well.
{Day 25} London bridge is falling down: abdominals, back, arms
Focus: Strengthening your core. Start in a plank position. Hold the plank while you sing “London bridges falling down.” Have your kid crawl underneath you if they seem interested. Mine wanted to rest on top of the bridge. You rest when those bridge falls down in the song. It is challenging to sing and hold the plank at the same time yet worth the effort in the calories you will burn.
Do: The song 3 times and even more if your kid wants you to do more.
{Day 26} Jumping Jacks: whole body cardio
Focus: Get your heart rate up. Normal Jumping Jacks: Stand with your feet wider apart than your shoulders. Jump upwards and bring your hands up above your head and your feet together. Jump again and land your feet in a wide stance with your arms out to your sides. Repeat jumping.
Froggy style: As you jump with your legs landing wider squat down like a frog before you jump up with your hands above your head.
Fast Style: Focus on doing extra fast jumping jacks.
Frankenstein Style: Have your left hand go forwards while your right leg moves backwards. Jump and switch with your right hand stretching out in front of you and your left leg moving behind, then jump again switching each time.
Do: 3 sets of at least 20 jumps from each category above.
{Day 27} Pilate Back Massage: cardio abdominals
Focus: Balance, coordination, and strength challenge. Start in a standing position with your child in your hands or strapped to you. In one big move you will sit, curl your back, and rock backwards. Immediately rock forwards and jump back to a standing position again. Repeat.
Do: 3 sets of 12 rolls each set.
{Day 28} Wii Games: Total body exercise.
Focus: Exercising on those extra cold or rainy days. Some days it is not easy for moms to get outside. If you have a Wii (A good time to buy them is during the black friday sales, they will be cheap!) I would strongly recommend you getting these two exercise programs. I enjoy doing both of these on a regular basis when I need some extra encouragement and don’t ‘feel’ like working out on my own. Sometimes we need a personal coach. They both provide a trainer that works along side you in getting fit.
My Fitness Coach: Has a big variety of work out moves and is much like a home work out video. Except the exercises are catered to your body type and what you need to work on. You don’t have to be holding the remote to perform these moves but must follow the instructor well to feel the burn.
EA Sports Active: Great toning exercises for your legs and arms. You must hold the remote in your hands at all times and follow what they do exactly or it won’t move on to the next exercise. Has a 30 day challenge that is fun to accomplish and keeps you motivated. I do these exercises on the hardest level and have my own bands that provide more resistance than the band that comes with this game. This game has the option for a two player mode, so you can exercise along side another person.
I usually do these programs when my son is napping, although I have done them with him and he will do squats with me then gets bored pretty fast and plays with his toys. If your kid is older they would probably be more interested in joining you during these exercises.
Enjoy working out!
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