Exercising with young children at home...

AWWW I feel for ya because I used to be in the same boat....I have now a 8 yr old and a 6 yr old...and what we did was ....5 miles 5 days a week for about 3 months then we had to go to 3 miles as they didnt want to go.
How we did it was my boys got to take their dogs for a walk and the dogs LOVED it and my boys knew this...we also let them ride the bikes the scooter...even their 4 wheeler...I hope that gives you a few ideas

I'm in the same boat. I have a 4 year old and a 1 year old...there's no way I can go out and work out with them...and I can't leave them at home. So I do POPpilates here at home! You can find her (Cassey- the instructor) on youtube and/or facebook (Facebook.com/blogilates)

I'm a single mom as well with a 4, 6, 8 year olds at home and a full-time job. I have a gym membership 25 minutes away, but rarely get there because of the job/kids. I finally broke down and bought a Malibu Pilates bench and work out to the DVDs whenever possible. I used to do Pilates reformer at a studio, so I remember a lot of it. Good luck. It is a challenge.

I would look in your area for inexpensive drop off daycares. There's a place near me that's called "A Moments Notice" where you can drop your kids off for a few hours (or less) for really cheap. If you have friends or relatives, enlist their help. See if anyone could watch your son while you do your run/walk. Then on off days from Couch to 5K (since its only 3 days a week), do aforementioned DVDs or dance parties with your son. Me and my kids (4 and 3) love to dance around the house, or I give them piggy-back rides and run up and down the hallway - great exercises that really make you sweat AND includes them.

Just some thoughts. HTH!

Piggy back rides

When I have the kiddo, I work out after he's gone to bed.

Have you tried the Leslie Sansone DVD's? I get a really good workout from her 3- and 4- milers. Love them. If you have Netflix, there are TONS of workouts on there.

i have four kids at home and at desperate times have ran over two miles in my front yard while they played outside. I used the runkeeper app on my phone to measure the distance. Also workout dvd's come in handy or anything you can do with them. Or jump rope, hula hoop or play ball while they play outside.

I like tae bo,10 min solutions pilates, lots of free videos on exercisetv.com and bodyrocktv

good luck!

Are there any gyms or rec centers that offer child care in the membership in your area? I know Gold's lets you leave them for 2 hours and our local Lion's Club has a similar option.

I still put my 3 and 4.5 year old in the stroller. They are used to it now, so they don't balk. I pack snacks and drinks and we go. They behave pretty well because they know we usually hit the playground when mom is done exercising. Hoping to get another full year and then some with the double stroller. Because I know once I pack the stroller away it will become much harder to keep a steady pace with them.

Also, there are lots of Wii games that can get both of you up and moving and sweating. My kids like Wii Fit (hula hooping, canoeing, biking, running, etc.) and a couple dance games work up a sweat.

I have a hand me down recumbent bike that when I get on at night after the kids have gone to bed. I didn't think I'd like exercising and working up a sweat at 9 o'clock at night, but it's not bad and actually helps me de-stress at the end of the day.

If you decide on any DVDs, I suggest Zumba because my daughter ends up doing some of it with me. She loves it as much as I do. She went to a Zumbatomic class with her Girl Scout troop and absolutely loved it!

Unless your kid has a problem I would get him involved in running too. My son is 4 and he runs backwards and tells me to speed up! lol Scooters are really fun and pretty easy for the kids to learn how to ride, especially if you get one that is his size.

Leslie Sansone are really cool DVD's to do at home. cheap, don't require much space etc.

We have a track near my house that my kids play in the grass in the center while I run around them. And we also have a few nature trails that I stuff my kids into strollers and hand them a juicebox and I just go.

We also really love to just kick a ball around the yard. We always end up laughing and having a great time. They also enjoy the dance games on the wii.

If there is a high school witha track around take him with you and let him play in the field while you run the track? always have a good view from any point

I work out at 5am while the kids are sleeping. I do Turbo Fire. It has me in such good shape that I bet I could easily run a 5K.