Get in shape and spend quality time with your family. Now that's a win-win!
The life of a mom is non-stop, but how many calories are you really burning? Fitting in calorie-burning, kid-friendly activities is a great way to get a workout in during your busy day. Whether they’re two months-old or a taller-than-you teen, there are activities to do with your kids that burn calories and help you get in shape. The best part? You’ll be making memories while you do it!
1. It’s Time to Play!
Ready, set, go! From chase to relay races, engaging in play activities not only helps you burn calories and build muscle, it aids in early childhood gross motor skill development. Running, jumping rope, hula hooping, hopscotch, and playing tag are sure to get the heart pumping and make for a great cardio workout.
2. Use Them as Weights
Small children make great weights! Get your resistance workout in with the help of your pint-sized partner. Take a walk around the house with her clinging to your leg to help build up those quad muscles. Let her take a seat on your back while you’re doing a plank or push-up to increase resistance and make the moves more challenging. If it’s a nice day, take her for a piggyback ride around the block and you’ll burn a ton of calories while building shoulder, back, and core muscle strength!
3. Go for a Walk
Rain or shine, a walk is just the thing to get some activity in and burn calories. If it’s raining, head to the mall and walk indoors or put on the rain boots and have fun puddle stomping. When it’s sunny, soak up the rays with a walk on the beach or head into the woods for a trek on your favorite forest trails.
Walking is a stress-reducing, low-impact exercise that burns about 65-100 calories per mile. If your kids are still too little to walk for any length of time, pop them in the stroller and head out for a jog or quick walk while pushing them for added resistance!
4. Bike Ride
Whether you ride around the neighborhood or head to a local bike trail, a 20-minute leisurely bike ride will burn between 100-120 calories. That’s about 300 calories in an hour! Pick up the pace and you can burn twice that in the same amount of time. Be sure everyone’s helmets fit properly before heading out and, if you’re going on a trail away from home, be sure to bring water bottles and a first aid kit.
5. Bounce!
Break out the trampoline and take turns bouncing! In 10 minutes, you can burn about 50 calories from jumping on a trampoline. If you don’t have a small, indoor one, head to the nearest indoor trampoline park for some family bouncing fun. Morning hours are usually the least crowded, so you’ll be able to get a fun workout in before it gets too busy.
And remember, implementing an active lifestyle and making time for fitness is an important job of parenthood because your kids are watching. Modeling this behavior for your children will increase the likelihood that they will continue with such healthy activities. Whether you play for a half-hour or spend the day biking along a trail, you’ll be burning calories while creating memories as a family. The activities you do with your kids that burn calories will be some of the most memorable workouts you ever have.
Looking for a workout buddy who also likes exercising with their kids? Thousands of similar mamas are waiting on SocialMama, head to the App Store and Download today.
About the Contributor:
Jessica Brassington is a wife, mom, and entrepreneur constantly seeking new ways to incorporate less processed beauty, food, and health into her hectic schedule. After losing herself in motherhood she chose to take a new outlook on life, discover her body, and bring her sexy back. When she's not fitting in her fitness, spending time with the fam, or Ubering around her kiddos, she is the host of Naked Talk with Jess podcast where she shares candid conversations about shedding shame around our bodies and sex from a holistic perspective. She is also a MentorMama for the SocialMama App.