exercising with young kids

dr_tina

I find the biggest problem with exercising is that it sacrifices more time that I want to spend with my son who is 5 years old. I work full time and I am not a morning person AT ALL, so getting up before he does is not an option. Exercising during work hours is also close to impossible because of time issues. So, I have enlisted my son as my "personal trainer" and he instructs me to do different exercises with him :-) We do jumping jacks, lifting light weights, floor exercises, etc.

Does anyone have an ideas of what else I can do that would include him in my exercise. He is really excited about being my "personal trainer" right now, but I think he is going to get bored of this concept soon. It does help that my personal trainer takes Reese Cup Mini's as payment though...can't beat the price :-)

lcpurser

I am doing something very similar with my 4 yr old daughter. She holds my feet for sit ups, and does jumping jacks with me. You could also let him choose some dance music and dance with him for cardio. Also, taking a walk with him around the neighborhood or at a park. It is shocking how many calories you can burn just taking a short walk.

HSingMomto7Kids

I say have your son work out with you. Make him part of it. Don't make it sound like work!! Get him on board. My 5 yr. old daughter absolutely loves to work-out with me. She will sometimes be disappointed if I decide not to work-out! She is my motivator in a different way sometimes.

mugsisme

my kids enjoy doing Leslie Sansone's Walk Away the Pounds. They attempt to do it, and get bored and wander off to play, and come back a few mins later and try again.

OR, I do it at night after the kids are in bed.

felice03

I do the same thing. Nothing beats a three years old yelling "run faster mommy" or "no mommy do like this" and her making up some weird move she insists on you completing.

I just encourage her to try doing whatever I am, sometimes it works others not. But in the end I just like knowing it is a special time for us.maybe try making "contests" out of it...can he do more pushups than mom...that sort of thing.

tuneses

My 2 year old and I play Just dance together and he loves it. We go for walks or I go run with the kids in the stroller. I also have a membership at the Y and child are is free. Good luck with your personal trainer lol

eellis2000

games like soccer, kick ball, and running. just about anything that gets you moving, even twister (it's just like yoga).

Now0rNever

I LOVE THIS THREAD! and that is a great Idea! i understand what you mean 100%! I have 2 little boys , 2yrs and 10 months and I try to spend as much time with them as possible. I'm preg right now but they love to watch the madagascar movie with the move it! move it! song and I dance to that with them while they watch it as well as other shows with music like YO GABBA GABBA and some disney shows.. ) ALSO , when I'm doing my workout videos, my 2 year old will stand beside me and mimic the moves, it's too funny and adorable!! )

bstamps12

I run a lot and my 4 year old did her first race in November. Find some family fun run/walks in your area & sign your family up. My daughter's race (which I did with her) was a 1K, so very doable for young kids. (It took us right at 10:00 to finish the race together). You guys could then "train" together by walking or running outside. If you are walking you could even use it as a teaching lesson about nature: different trees, animals, etc. You could race each other as well, making it a short enough distance so your 5 year old can run it, but it turns it into speed intervals for you, which burns major calories. Good for you getting your son involved too!

lisitabonita

I am a nanny with 3 children, under 4. We work out everyday, We do kids zumba, yoga, play tag or chase, freeze dance, endurance competitions (standing on one leg, how many jumps, planks, etc). Another fun thing is doing the bear crawl, crab walk, things like that.

JaneDoughSanAntonio

I'll preface by saying I don't have kids, so I may not have the best ideas, but what about a reward for your trainer after you reach a mini-goal (weight loss or inches)? Maybe a trip to the arcade or a movie or a toy (trying to think of something that doesn't involve food)? Also, I have an MFP who's been bowling a lot to burn calories, that could be a fun activity for both of you, and you could "strength train" a little by lifting the ball when it's not your turn. And what about the park? Jungle gyms offer a lot of places adults can do pull ups, lunges with one leg elevated, etc. Just some thoughts! Good luck! Your trainer sounds awesome! :-)

hollyain2004

I have an almost 5yr old and a 2 year old, and they of course love to chase and be chased, do workout videos with me, and go on walks/hikes (taking a jogging stroller for when they get tired and to give me a bump in intensity!) But, overall my favorite high-calorie-burning option is loading them up in the bike trailer and going out cycling!! We run errands in our town, ride to my mom's, go down new neighborhood roads, and generally have a great time being outdoors!!!!!! A bit expensive startup for a good bike and trailer, but it has been SO worth it to me! And we got it all second-hand, so it was a lot more budget reachable!

dr_tina

We had "step races" tonight and had a competition to see who could go up and down the steps more times. There are almost 20 steps total, so it was not easy...but that little stinker had to show me up :-)

Running isn't an option because my legs are 2 different sizes so anything that is really high impact like that is an issue. I want to start swimming with him again. Weather is just pretty cold to be outside right now, so limits the options.

I do have 2 of the Wave boards that rock and we do that together sometimes, but we have had some incidents with it, lol

Mama2CnR

I have a 6 year old and a 20 month old, they both really enjoy "working out" with Mommy
In the warmer months we would go for long walks/running intervals and my 6 year old just loved it if I referred to him as "Coach" and let him call the shots on whether we would run or walk and for how long.
My 6 year old also loves doing yoga at home together...my 20 month old does as well but he also tries to tackle us when we're in any poses that he finds funny, which kind of defeats the purpose lol
Living room "dance parties" are also a great calorie burner that both my kids love.

chelsifina

I have this wonderful park with a natural trail near my home. Usually I run loops on the trail on my own, but lately I've experimented with taking my kids. Its a bit of a gamble since sometimes they are not in the mood to go fast or stay for a long time, but my 7 yr old son is becoming quite the runner!!! The first time I took them out (they were 4 and 6 at the time) was not long after having had a conversation about God and prayer and answering some pretty deep questions on their part. Then we go running and then, whenever they got tired, then would drop to their knees in the middle of the path and pray for more energy to finish the trail and keep running. It was pretty hilarious. It was a little confusing for the other people on the trail, lol. I think they were acting out what a lot of us runners feel sometimes!

hope25

I do my workout right after I put my little bit down for bedtime. I am not a get up in the morning work outer either.

Mamao7

My kids and I walk.. I push a stroller and the 3 of them ride bikes or walk with me.. we play just dance on Wii and we have Richard Simmons sweating video's also nex flix... we have unlimited videos.. i let them choose.. its always a fun time..

andreaashell

I have 4 kids, but I am lucky enough to be a stay at home mom... it's still hard to find time to work out with them around... however, if you have a husband that is home at night, I would suggest getting out and exercising at night, if that is possible. I've found if I work out at home when the kids are asleep, they tend to wake up. I have a group of ladies that I run with at 10 at night at the local high school track. It is an awesome break for all of us.

rosavasquez

I have a 2 month old (I just put him in the swing or down for the night) and my other sons aren't as young as your son (they're 9) but I work out on the Wii and they like to join me and we have a ball. It's actually doesn't even feel like working out. Gamestop even has used Wii fit games and the pad if price is an option, and there is always Craigslist. Hope this helps!

cecilia0909

We have a kinect- awesome work out with my kids! We box, dance, bowl together, do rafting adventures- it's great. We also just play- go to the park and swing, play tag, kick ball, basketball, baseball, soccer, whatever but just play. It's amazing how fast an hour will go by just playing.
Another favorite of mine is long walks. I will get a list of things for my kiddos to find while we are out or will count how many blue mailboxes we see. My 3 year old can easily walk 2 miles with me.
I also turn on music videos from you tube on our TV and we have living room dance parties. Anything from kids songs to Britney Spears....am favorite around here is anything by LMFAO.
My kids are 13, 3, and 18 months.