After the birth of my daughter, I had an uphill battle of the bulge to get rid of my pregnancy weight gain. With a newborn and two school-aged kids keeping me busy, it was easy to make excuses to not get that workout in. That is until I realized that I could incorporate my baby into my exercise routine. Now my baby is a toddler and together we have logged hundreds of hours of awesome play time that get me working up a sweat and her working up the giggles.
If you’re new to working out with kids, there are a few tips and tricks you can try to ease into the experience so that it is positive for everyone. Julie Baird, Certified Personal Trainer specializing in Pre and Postnatal fitness, with a Masters Degree from the French University of Sports Sciences and founder of Our Fit Family Life suggest that flexibility is key.
“I stopped planning my workouts with him and watched him play while squatting! If he felt like jumping on my stomach in the middle of my ab workout, it became the best workout ever,” Baird tells Momtastic. “I would never ask him to get down, I just adapt the moves and keep interacting with him. Fitness can really be fun family time. I have a vast exercise repertoire and I became creative to adapt my workouts to the time, place, toys available, and mood. Kid snacks are a huge help!”
If you’re looking to find ways to work out with your child in tow then look no further than these inspiring moves by fit moms on Instagram who smartly include their babies.
Get Those Glutes Burning
Roll out your yoga mat and join Julie Baird from Our Fit Family Life as she rocks the Hugs and Glutes workout. Baird does an amazing job at incorporating her kids in her workouts and she posts these easy to follow videos on her popular Instagram account.
Rock Hard Abs Are A Cinch
It’s amazing how much work it takes to hold your little one up in your feet while you lay on your back. Melanie Darnell of Fit Mama 4 Three shows us that it’s actually simple and fun. This may seem like just play, but trust me, this move is a total core workout that will leave you feeling strong and your kiddo feeling loved. Be sure that you engage your core by gently pulling in your belly button while keeping a neutral spine.
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Work Those Inner and Outer Thighs
Snuggle up to your baby while you do squats to work your inner and out thighs just like Andrea Allen of Deliciously Fit & Healthy. Be sure that you have good posture, a neutral spine, and an engaged core. Make sure your focus on is on good form and go slow so that you’re not only getting in a sweet workout but your also not going to startle your snoozing babe with sudden jolting moves.
Netflix & Booty, Anyone?
Sometimes when your kids just don’t want to be held, you can plop them down in front of Netflix while you still get in a few sweet minutes of working out. Ashley Nowe of Get Mom Strong cleverly uses Netflix to help keep her kids close by while she sneaks in a quick workout.
Diastasis Recti Repair
Julie Baird sweetly shows followers how to get in serious healing DR moves while her adorable baby literally crawls all over her. Baird specializes in diastasis recti repair and you can learn from her on how to identify if you have DR and then what to do to fix it.
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Full Body Mashup
In this incredible mashup video by Fit Mama 4 Three followers get to see how Melanie Darnell never missed a workout in 2018 even while she was literally surrounded by little kids. Talk about inspiring!
Motherhood is a time for many things but losing yourself in the task of raising kids doesn’t mean you have to lose out on giving your body the chance to kick ass. Follow these incredible moms for a world of amazing workouts that can include your kids.
