Exercise with toddlers: Clever mom hacks for hectic lives
Some days, the last thing you probably feel like doing is exercise—particularly if you’ve had a sleepless night. But keeping active can do wonders for your physical and mental health. Here are some easy ways to incorporate exercise with toddlers into your daily routine, from mom and toddler workout ideas to trying out toddler exercise videos online.
- Break exercise up into small chunks of time. Even ten minutes a day is a great start.
- Check out apps and online videos for short exercise routines you can squeeze in whenever suits you.
- Walk or cycle whenever you can to build exercise into your daily routine.
- Do squats while you’re picking up toys.
- Do calf raises while you’re chopping vegetables.
- Walk up and down escalators and avoid elevators.
- Join in during playtime, there’s nothing like a game of tag to get your heartrate going.
- Check if your local gym offers childcare or a creche—many do.
- Go for buggy walks with other parents and catch up while you get your steps up. Choose hilly areas for a more intense work-out.
- Participate in a mom and toddler workout by incorporating your baby into your exercises.
- Find toddler exercise videos on YouTube for you both to try.
- For fun ideas to keep your increasingly mobile toddler active, check out our 12-18-month-old’s activity planner.
Sources:
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/get-active-your-way/
https://www.brighthorizons.com/family-resources/exercise-and-the-working-parent
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