8 Fantastic Exercises to Do With Your Toddler
When trying to lose the baby weight or stay in shape postpartum it can be really hard to learn how to exercise with a toddler! Learning fantastic fitness moves that you can do with them is key!
Why Exercise with Your Toddler?
Most of us are full-time moms. Meaning 24 hours a day and night are allotted to our precious creations. If you don’t learn the art of exercising with your kids, then there’s a good chance it’s not going to fit into your days at all.
Learning how to exercise with baby or a toddler is an art form. As a personal fitness trainer I used to create stroller exercise routines for a group of women. Imagine my distress when my toddler hated the stroller.
And I mean really hated it. There was going to be no 45 minute routines with the kids strapped in the entire time any longer. At that point I adapted to creating baby wearing workout routines as well as crafting fitness routines that can be completed with the kids out of the stroller alongside.
This is some of my favorite moves from one of those exercise with toddler routines that can be completed while playing with them, taking a walk, or at the park!
Exercise with toddlers has to be versatile
Kids are unpredictable. Every day with a baby or toddler has the potential to be completely different from what you planned. Everything takes twice as long, and you have to plan for everything potentially going awry.
Your workouts have to be just as versatile. These fitness moves to do with your toddler are perfect because they are all very challenging but very slow. You can simply take your toddler for a walk and let them dawdle along looking at things while you get in a vigorous lower body workout!
Exercising with toddlers has to be fun!
Even with exercise moves that are perfect to do at a toddlers side, they often get bored very easily. To keep them engaged with your workout you can have them do some of the more fun or silly looking exercises right alongside you!
You can also bring along bubbles to blow while you workout. My favorite trick to keep mommy’s workout with a baby or toddler fun is to sing lots of kids songs! Think: 3 Little Kittens, Twinkle Twinkle, and the ABCs!
Postpartum Weight Loss While Breastfeeding
There is one struggle that so many moms have postpartum, knowing how to lose the baby weight safely while breastfeeding. Can you even do that? How can you diet and breastfeed? How can you lose the excess weight and not lose your milk supply?
What about losing the baby weight while INCREASING your milky supply?
For years I’ve been asked by my mom clients these same questions in different ways again and again. So as a certified online health coach, fitness trainer, maternal nutrition specialist, and mom of 3, I decided to compile the proven successful postpartum diet and exercise plan that I created for my breastfeeding mom clients into a program that now anyone can have access to!
It’s called the Milky Mama’s Postpartum Plan and it is built for you! To teach you everything you need to know to be successful at postpartum weight loss while breastfeeding and learning to make more milk!
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8 Fantastic Exercise Moves to Do With Your Toddler
**This is a full lower body workout. Your legs will be burning! Push through and try to finish. I recommend 2 to 3 sets of these exercises. Your metabolism is boosted and muscle is gained when you include multiple sets in your routine. Remember to maintain good posture and keep your core tight on every exercise.**
1. Alternating Walking Lunges
Stand with feet split and step forward really far. Bend your back knee down slowly as close to the ground without touching it as you can. Make sure your feet are far enough apart that your front knee doesn’t in front of your toes. Then step forward on the other leg and complete the same motion. This is a great exercise for toddler pace exploring.
2. Toe Taps
Find a curb or something about that height. Stand facing your object and hop 1 toe up on top of the curb. From that position hop the other toe up while switching the previously raised foot to the ground. This is a fast cardio exercise. Do as many as you can in 30 seconds. Fun mommy tip: Sing the ABC’s slowly including the ending and you should be at about 30 seconds.
3. Lunge Knee-Ups
Continue with the same motion of lunging as the previous exercise. However instead of stepping forward into another lunge, swing your back leg up bringing your knee up in front of you and tightening your abdominals. Repeat 20 times before switching to the other leg.
4. High Knees
Jog in place but bring your knees up towards your chest as high and fast as you can for a count of 30 seconds. Keep your core tight so that you don’t hunch forward. This exercise can be completed in place or while slowly hopping around after your toddler. If you plan on getting your little one to join in on this exercise, it’s fun to pretend you are prancing ponies.
5. Sumo Squat To Leg Raise
Begin by spreading your feet beyond shoulder width apart and point your toes out at a 45 degree angle. Sit back as deep as you can and stay there! Do 10 tiny pulses in that position before lifting up into standing position while squeezing your glutes! When almost raised up lift your right leg to the side and slightly behind you to further activate your glutes on one side while further activating your quad on the opposite leg. Return to squatting position and squat back into sitting position again. After 10 more pulses, repeat the leg raise on the left leg. Try to do this ten times!
6. Butt Kicks
This is another exercise that is very much like jogging in place. Swing the lower half of your leg way back to kick your booty with each step. Do 30 seconds as fast as you can. This exercise as well as “high knees” are really great to throw in whenever your kid starts to wander. You get to skyrocket your heart rate and hop along at a kids pace.
7. Lateral Leg Lifts (Knee Bent)
You can look at this exercise as a side crunch while standing. You will be targeting your obliques by standing in good posture, tightening your core, and lifting your knee to the side and up slowly. Switch between left leg and right leg on this exercise for a total of 40. (20 on each side.)
8. “The Crab” Side Shuffles
It is our favorite exercise to include into our family strolls. Making exercises into animal actions is an almost foolproof way to get your kids involved and interested in your workout. Get back into that sumo squat position and shuffle to the left staying as low as you can. Bring your heels as close together as you can with each step. (Yes we are making crab claws!) If your toddler is following along 5 to 10 steps in each direction is great; or you can do it in a circle. Shoot for twenty slide steps on each leg however you break it up.
Getting this workout in 3 times a week will help you get fit and energized! Or fit it in when you can and interchange your other workout days with other great ways to exercise with you kids! Like:
- Stroller Exercise Routines
- Pilates With Baby Exercise Routines
- Baby Wearing Workouts
- and More Ways to Exercise with Kids!
If you are looking for some more fit mom inspiration and routines feel free to join my mailing list or follow me on instagram for more daily healthy fit mom advice!
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