In my job as a health and fitness coach and personal trainer, I have worked with many women who have children ranging from infants to teens. The most common thing I hear is that it’s super hard to find time to exercise when you have to take care of your children. As a mom of 2 beautiful girls, I can TOTALLY relate!

Through my own process of trial and error, I’ve found some things that are really great for getting your kiddos involved with your workouts instead of trying to get your workouts done without the kids. I went from trying to get a workout done with a crying baby stuck in her bouncy chair a few feet from me (not very enjoyable for either of us to say the least) to fully involving my girls in my workouts whenever they want to join me.

Try these ideas with your kiddos so they’ll be your REASON instead of your EXCUSE:

FOR INFANTS

1. Put your baby in a sling and find a low impact workout that involves no floorwork. For example, there are some fun country style and hip-hop style home workouts that work great for this in our virtual gym system.
2. Check your local area for stroller strides type programs or meetups where you can exercise with other moms and push your infants in their strollers.

FOR CHILDREN AGED 3 – 12

3. Low impact partner workouts are really great for moms and kids to do together. Our virtual gym system has an entire program created just for this! It incorporates a ball to toss back and forth and lots of fun moves that keep the kids interested for the full 30 minutes. Both my girls love doing this program with me!

4. Dance workouts with easy to follow choreography are GREAT to do with kids. You’ll both work up a sweat and most likely get some great laughs together too as you work on shakin’ your groove things together! If you’re not ready to go to show your moves to the world in a public gym setting, contact me for info on our virtual gym to get access to lots of fun dance workouts you can do at home.

5. Go out in your backyard or to the park! There are so many fun ways to get exercise with your kiddos outside. For instance, kids LOVE to race! You can set up a space to race each other and keep track of who wins. If your kiddo is little, give them a headstart you meany! haha Another idea is to play tag. Its a GREAT workout and I’ve never met a kid who will turn down a good game of tag. Lastly, there’s always riding bikes, roller skating, and even just going for a nature hike or walk together too! Skip hide and seek though because too much time is spent staying in one place for the hiders.

FOR KIDS 13+

Teenagers are probably not interrupting your workout time as much as younger children but you may find that your time is limited due to running them around to their extracurriculars and friends’ houses, etc etc. Here are a few ideas for still getting your workout in, even though it may not be WITH your kids at this age!

6. Exercise in the morning before all the activity starts! (This is actually always my number one tip to create a consistent exercise routine no matter who you are.) Check out my tips on making those morning workouts easier!

7. Invite your teen to go to the gym, out for a jog/walk, or to do a home workout with you. Let them know it will help you with your motivation and accountability. You may find he/she will be honored to help and will even enjoy the chance to spend some time together. Plus, if your teen is not involved in any athletic activities already, establishing an exercise routine with you can really improve his/her health right along with yours.

8. While waiting for your child at the ball field, dance theater, swim practice or wherever they are after school, find a place you can get a walk or jog in. If you can do a drop off, head to the gym or back home for a workout while you wait to pick them up.  Invite some of the other “soccer moms” to join you to make it more fun and spread the health wealth!

In the end, involving your kids with your health and fitness journey will be much more enjoyable than trying to fight with them to leave you alone. Don’t forget what a good role model you’ll be too! Kids are ALWAYS watching and learning from what we do. Show them the importance of healthy habits and teach them by letting them join you! You’ll also find that exercising together presents new opportunities for bonding and spending time together in a really fun way that’s good for the whole family.

If you’re doing any of these things or have come up with other ideas, I’d love to hear how you’re getting your kids involved! Tell me in the comments below!