Get Active WITH Kids

Lets face it ladies, what is our number one excuse for not getting active? The kids! Yes, I have been using this one way to often too. If I added up all the money I had spent on gym membership since my kids have been born and divided it by the numbers of times I have actually gone, each workout probably cost me about $200. There has to be a better way! There is. How about we stop using our kids as exercise excuses and start using them as exercise enablers. Kids love fresh air, getting outside and being active. Remember how much fun it was to play chasies, kick balls, play duck-duck-goose and run up and down hills when you were a kid? It’s fun as an adult too. Instead of sipping coffee on the park bench while the kids play, lets get involved. Strap your runners on and get out there with them. They will love it and you will feel great. Even if your kids are very little they can still get involved. My one year old doesn’t understand any games but he is happy to just run around like a crazy person with me. So round up your little ‘exercise enablers’. I challenge you to try this park active session with your little people today! Warm up: Pick two objects about 15 metres apart (two trees or two posts).  Shuttle between the two objects.  Try light jogging, then backwards walking, high knee runs and side stepping. Your kids will love to run along side you. They might even pick a step to do. Treasure hunt: Bring 15 objects from your house along (eg. Pieces of Duplo, tennis balls, ping pong balls, dinosaurs, anything really). Scatter these a fair distance away from your pram or bag. The aim of the game is to collect the items as fast as you can (ONE at a time) and bring them back to the pram/bag. Time how long it takes for all objects to be collected by you and your kids. Now try and beat your time again, and again.  Piggy back run: Get your child in a piggy back and run with them! They think this is hilarious and it’s a damn good workout. If you have more than one child they can take turns having a piggy back. Kids Invention: Now let your kids make up an active game to play. They may have you spinning circles and singing ‘let it go’ at the top of your lungs. But hey, they think you are the coolest Mum there right now and you are burning energy and getting active! Happy playing people! Leave me a comment and let you know how you go.