5 Easy Tips For Working Out With Toddlers

Working Out With Toddlers Can Be Hard… But Make Them The Reason…Not The Excuse.

It can be so easy to make an excuse for not working out with toddlers. I’ll be honest, they can make it A LOT more challenging at times. We all know exercise is good for our own bodies, but we should also be thinking about our kids. How is staying fit and working out with toddlers RIGHT NOW going to affect them currently and later in life??

How To Make Working Out With Toddlers Easy

Tip 1. Do It First Thing In The Morning

As the day goes on, it gets harder and harder to fit in a workout. To-do lists pile up, unexpected trips happen, and then it’s time for dinner. By that point you are most likely exhausted and don’t have any energy or desire to exercise.

So do it first thing! You will have more energy and it will make your day better. There are three things I do to make working out in the mornings easier.

1. Know what kind of workout you will be doing. So plan the night before. Are you going to get out and run, stay indoors, do yoga, or go to a gym? There are so many options of things to do, so knowing ahead of time can really help you get moving in the morning. You can even go as far as laying out your workout clothes, so you know where everything is (I hate it when I can’t find a sports bra).

2. Leave your kids in their pajamas, and hand them a quick snack if they are hangry. A banana will usually hold them over tell breakfast, or our girls love food pouches with applesauce or yogurt. If I am trying to get out the door, this is a big one. Basically I just grab them, a snack, and go.

3. Plan Breakfast and the snack. Planning helps a ton. We often times like to do oatmeal, rice, millet, quinoa, or other grains for breakfast. Usually while they cook, I can get a workout in. They are so hands off, especially if you have and Instant Pot (they are the best ever). Just dump your grain, add some water and set a timer. So amazing! Even if you do pancakes though, you can still do something (squats, pushups, burpees, ect.) in between flipping. 🙂 For the snack have it out on the counter ready to go, so there is no fuss or hassle.

Tip 2. Include Your Toddler

Toddlers love being involved. Here are two ways we like to include them.

1. By physically using them. They love being up in our business, so why not let them and put them to good use. 🙂 We use our kids as extra weight and they think it is the funnest thing ever. Adam will use them for bench pressing, this takes some coordination on their part, since they have to lay straight but they love it. They love hoping on our backs for push ups too. Another great way to include them is while doing squats. It is also a sneaky way to get some snuggles and hugs in. 🙂

2. By letting them do what you do. Kids are really great at learning by example. So as they are watching you exercise they are going to be curious and will want to join in. So include them and give them a simple workout that they can do beside you.

Tip 3. Teach Them

Kids just naturally like to move, as I am sure you all know. So teach them how to put that energy to good use. You don’t have to teach them a million exercise all at once. Just start with one and then slowly build. We started with squats. They are already great at them because they already know how to do it. Just put a name to it, add some reps and they will be squat pros. We then we added push ups and burpees. Push ups are hard, they are still a work in progress, but everyone has to start somewhere.

Our 18 month old LOVES burpees! Which is a lay on the floor and slowly get up exercise for her. We just started teaching our 3-year-old jumping jacks. She is slowly getting the hang of them. She is always so proud when she masters a few in a row. Sit ups are also one we are working on. I also like to do yoga, so our kids are starting to join in on that fun too. 🙂

Tip 4. Take Your Toddler With You

Running can get tricky with toddlers. But the best solution (if you don’t have someone to watch them) is to take them with you. Yes, it may make your run a little slow, because man they add some weight. But just look at it as an added bonus. Pushing the stroller is giving you some strength training too. 🙂

We also like to run hills. So if you can get to a hill, then let your kids out and they can run around and play while you run. Or for some extra difficulty and fun Adam will give them piggy backs or put them on his shoulders as he runs up. Some days it is fun to change it up, and we will just go to a park. It is always fun for our kiddos, and there is always a variety of things we can do for a workout.

Tip 5. Just Move

Anything is better then nothing. If all you can do is squats in between flipping pancakes, then you are one step ahead of where you were. Some days are more challenging then others to get a workout in, so just keep it simple. Just do a little something extra. 🙂

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