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It is 5am. My alarm goes off. I drag myself out of bed. Shorts and a t-shirt and I tiptoe downstairs making sure to miss the squeaky floorboards and go to the basement. Turn on a low watt light bulb, hop on the exercise bike and start pedaling. Slowly at first, working up a good sweat then…
My daughter jumps on my bed and says "Good morning Daddy." I open one eye, look at the clock. 7 AM. But, but…I was exercising. "What happened?" I wonder out loud. "You shut the alarm off and went back to sleep," my wife mutters. Is this possible? Did I miss my morning workout again?
Where do we find the time to exercise?
Before kids, no problem. After kids. Different story.
So, how does one find time to stay fit when you have not one, not two but 3 kids in the house?
My daughter, who's 4, is very active. We also have 1½ year old twin boys. If I classify my daughter as active then the twins are hyper-drive active with a bag of sugar thrown in for good measure. Add to the mix that both my wife and I work from home and our house is, well, busy.
Waking up at 5am seems to be the only option. But let's be realistic. The last thing I want to do is exercise early in the morning, by myself, in my cold, dark basement. Not exciting.
I thought I'd tackle working out a different way. Who says you need to do an organized sport. Why buy a bike or treadmill and do the North American typical exercise routine. Why throw weights around when I have live weights to throw around. (Well, not throw but play with.) Yes, I'm talking about playing with your kids.
What I started doing is working out with my human exercise equipment. And believe me, it is a work out.
When my daughter wants to play outside I suggest a bike ride. We purchased a ‘Trail Gator.' Basically, a bar that attaches to the seat post of your bike and to the front of your child's bike. It raises the front wheel up, locks the wheel in place and presto. An instant tandem bike. Fresh air, quality time with Maddie and the added bonus. I get to keep fit.
And it doesn't stop there. Rake the leaves. Shovel snow. Take them outside and throw them in the air. (Just remember to catch them on the way down.)
Have a trampoline? Bounce on it with them. Little bounces are best and be safety conscious. (Our neighbours graciously allow us to use theirs.)
Here are some other ideas to exercise with your kids;
- Put on some music and dance with your child. Better yet, pick them up and do a waltz or tango. They will never know if you have 2 left feet.
- Put your child on your shoulders and walk/ run around the house or block.
- Play hide and seek.
- Lie with your back on the floor. Have your child lie on your feet and hold them in the air while they make airplane sounds. (Great abs workout.)
- Extend your lower legs over the end of a couch or chair, let your child sit on your feet and do some leg raises.
- Get your yoga mat and have your kids stretch and practice poses. (Bring out the Twister mat for added fun.)
- Pull a wagon full of kids to the park.
- Pull a sled full of kids to the park.
- Tobogganing. Going downhill is easy. Going uphill, now there's a workout.
- Let your children ride their bikes and you run or rollerblade with them.
The possibilities are endless.
And the best part. No more pseudo 5am starts. I don't need to ‘find' the time anymore. I use the time I have effectively. And to be honest, it is much more fun than lifting cold iron in a damp, dark basement.
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