FAMILY FITNESS: 5 EASY EXERCISES FOR KIDS TO DO WITH THEIR PARENTS`

In my last blog, HOW TO SHOW YOUR KIDS TO BE STRONG FOR LIFE, I talked about why it’s important to get your kids involved with your fitness. Today’s blog will be about family fitness, and which exercises your kids can do.

First, before I go into the exercises, I want to emphasize the word, fun. The key to all of this is getting your kids to have fun with the process. It doesn’t matter what age your kids are, they need to have fun if you want to help them create a positive experience.

How can you make exercise fun? Easy, make games out of it or make it challenging, and most importantly, show them you’re also having fun. Put your favorite tunes on and make it a workout/dance party.

Be creative and just have fun with it.

Now that is said, let’s go over some intro exercises for your kids.

1.   BODYWEIGHT SQUATS

This is an easy one to get your kids started with your workouts. For the young kids, don’t be harsh on their form, they don’t have the stability, coordination, and strength to squat with great form.

You can help with just these three tips: keep the feet flat, knees pushed out, and chest up. That’s all they need for now and as they get older you can help.

Something I do with my daughter is a squat-and-hold challenge. We squat as deep as we can and hold it, and whoever stands up first, or falls, loses. A fun way to get them engaged. Another way you can incorporate the squat is to have your kids squat down, and then jump as high as they can.

A great form of exercise and lets them use some pent-up energy.

2.   DEADHANGS/CHIN-UP

If you have a pull-up bar and some Olympic rings, this is a great one for the kids to play with. In my home gym, I have rings hanging from the pull-up bar, and my daughter loves it.

She will do all sorts of things on it like hanging, twisting, jumping and hanging, and even a chin up. I will put a box in front of the rings so she can climb on the box and hang from the rings in an up position of a chin up. That is one of her favorite exercises to do in the gym.

It’s also great because she is building great upper-body strength while doing so.

When my daughter did her first hang, I celebrated the shit out of that. I gave her so many high fives, and hugs and told her how proud I was of her.

She had the biggest smile on her face, and I think it was because of that celebration, she loves going out to the gym and playing on the rings.

Then she got her first chin up later, and again I celebrated with her. I not only celebrate the achievement, but I emphasized the hard work she put in to make it happen.  

In the beginning, celebrate everything and make a big deal about it. Then, celebrate the first-time stuff that took some work to get there, and celebrate the hard work and achievement.

It’s fun to celebrate, and you’re making a strong impression of what exercise is for your kids.

3.   FARMER CARRY’S

If you have small kettlebells or dumbbells, farmer carry’s is a great way to get your kids involved.

It’s simple, let them carry the weights as far as they can before putting them down. Ideally, it’s best done outside in the grass, so the weights are not damaging the flooring.

This is a fun one for kids to challenge themselves on the distance they can carry. Make it a competition by doing it with them. Adding a competitive nature to the exercise makes it more of a game than an exercise, this is true for you as well.

Competition is fun and you can teach your kids the healthy side of competition and exercise, a great bang for your buck activity.

Side note: You’re also teaching your kid to be strong enough to handle some chores around the house.

You’re welcome.

4.   MEDICINE BALL SLAMS

Have you ever slammed medicine balls on the floor?

If not, you should invest in some 4-15lb sand-filled medicine balls and try them. While you’re at it, let your kids slam them as well.

It’s simple to do and takes no time to teach to your kids. You just pick it up and slam it as hard as you can on the floor.

Feeling frustrated or stressed? Kids have some pent-up energy.

Go and slam some balls on the floor.  

It feels good and both you and your kids will enjoy throwing something.

You can also use it to distract your kids while you do exercise.

5.   SPRINTING

The last exercise you can do with your kids is sprinting. Kids love to sprint, so might as well use it as an exercise.

If you don’t sprint but would like to do them with your kids, I suggest you read one of the blogs I wrote on sprinting. You can click here to read it.

In that blog, I tell you why it’s important and how to get started.

This is another exercise you can get competitive with. If you have access to a sled, even better.

If you read my last blog, you saw me and my daughter racing. I used a sled, and she was sprinting.  No joke, I tried my hardest to push that sled as fast as I could, and she still beat me.

She was thrilled and so excited to beat me.  Not only was it fun for her, but it was also a lot of fun for me as well. She gave me a better workout because of that race. We pushed each other trying to win that race.

If you don’t have a sled, you can get creative and find other ways to make it fun and competitive for each other.

Don’t forget to have fun with each other. The goal is to get your kids involved and create a positive experience with exercise.  You’re teaching them what hard work is and how to be strong and healthy in life.