With summer around the corner and the end of the school year nearly here, I’ve been thinking a lot about how our schedule and life will change a bit with my kids being home. I love summer vacation and *mostly* love having my girls around during the day. We love planning things to do without having to rush off places. Life just goes a bit slower over the summer and I’m hoping this year is no different. Taking time to just “be”, explore and experience new things has been what summer is all about for us. If you’re in the same boat as me and your kids will be joining you for summer fun, it can also take a little bit of adjusting. I know a lot of times my work time and “me time” end up not having any real structure to them and I just squeeze them in whenever I can. This works fine for the most part, but in more recent years I’ve also found that I stay up much later with summer hours and it’s not as easy to get up and get a work out in before the kids get up. It’s for this reason that I’ve changed the way I get my exercise and workouts in with my kids home. Each age they’ve been has also meant I’ve needed to change it up a bit too. When they both napped or had a rest time during the afternoon, that’s when I would work out if it didn’t happen before they woke up for the day. Now I’m in a season of working out WITH them because they can mostly keep up with what I’d like to do in some way or another. Here are a few of my favorite ways to keep a summer exercise routine in place and even including your kids in the fun. KIDS BIKE & MOM RUNSThis is one of our favorites lately. My older daughter loves biking and so this makes it fun for her and peaceful for me. Sometimes they’ll scooter while I run, but the bike has worked really, really well. If you can find a trail where cars aren’t present this can be a great option because so often the kids are way ahead of me and end up turning around to join me again. I also love this because it usually makes them feel pretty good that they’re faster than mom while we’re working out together. The more fun the kids have, the more fun a workout is for me. If they’re miserable and complaining, it can be a really draining workout. Try to do this one in the morning so nobody gets too overheated. JOGGING STROLLER OR BIKE TRAILERWhile this option just doesn’t work for me that much anymore, last summer this was THE thing we did at least a few times a week. We biked to a lot of our favorite places instead of drove. If you’ve ever pulled a bike trailer with two kids, you know it’s a GOOD workout. We went places like the library, beach and farmer’s market when we could. You can also go for a quick run with a jogging stroller or bike trailer that has the option to use it as a stroller. The nice thing is you can usually give your kids a book or even a healthy snack while you run and for the most part, you’ll be uninterrupted while exercising. Just remember sunscreen and cool clothing if it’s a hot day. HIKING/GEOCACHING
KIDS VIDEOS THAT INCORPORATE MOVEMENT FOR RAINY DAYSIf you hop over to Youtube, you can find SO many videos that incorporate movement for kids. One of our favorite resources for this is called GoNoodle. It’s got some fun songs for kiddos and it also adds in some exercise moves for them. Sometimes I’ll join in with them and just do the moves with either more intensity or I’ll add some weights to the motions. You can even find workout videos for kids if you wanted to. Sometimes my girls want to do something “just like mom,” and a workout video geared towards them is just the thing. I’ll just make the workout more intense for me while they do the “kid” version. PLAYGROUND WORKOUT
If you’re still in that phase of life where you need space away from your kids to get a workout in, here are some ways to carve out that time while they’re still at home:
7 Comments
MELANIE EDJOURIAN
5/17/2019 06:06:41 am
By coincidence we've been tying to do this when we can. I park further from the school so we have a longer walk and when I get back in time from one drop off the second will get to walk from school when there is enough time and weather permitting.
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5/17/2019 03:12:55 pm
This is a great read, when i try to exercise i feel like the kids get in the way. After reading this, I will try to incorporate them into the exercise.
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Patricia Chamberlain
5/18/2019 06:47:05 am
I have a such hard time exercising since I became a parent! I mean, I chase her around all day, but there isn't much time for planned exercise. This post is very helpful!
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Melanie williams
5/19/2019 01:57:03 am
This is such a super fab idea. Always good to get kids involved in any kind of fitness related activity's for sure xx
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Amanda KleckerSeeking a balanced life through healthy living and a healthy environment Archives
June 2019
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