5 Exercises To Do at Home With Your Kids to Make Them Strong

Inspiring your children to exercise at home can sometimes be a challenge, but here’s the thing, you have the ability to instill in them a habit that will last a lifetime. With the limited activity that the school system provides, creating family bonding moments of exercise can be fun. No matter how you look at it, we are growing adults from scratch. We want them to be able to lift heavy things without injury, run around the block without panting, and run up and down stairs without sucking wind. Not to mention, we should be providing our kids with all the tools to become lean and healthy adults, without having to chase the next diet plan to keep their weight down.

As a parent, you have the ability to teach your kids the fundamentals of exercises, something that most PE coaches really won’t do. The coach will bark out orders to do a push-up without any explanation on how to properly execute that movement.

Here are my top 5 exercises that you can do at home. 

These exercises will create overall strength, need no equipment, and create the fundamentals of movement that are used in a variety of sports.

Push-Ups  

Facedown on the floor, prop the body on the knees and walk the hands forward until you create a straight line from the knees to the shoulders. Place the hands out wide so that when you bend the elbow, they come down to 90 degrees. The body weight should be in the hands and the goal is to aim and lower the chest towards the floor, by bending the elbows. Go for 10 repetitions.

Squats 

From a standing position, place the feet hip-width apart, with the bodyweight on the heels and the toes gripping down towards the floor. Bend your knees and sit into an imaginary chair and then stand up again. The key is to lower the thighs to come about parallel to the floor. Keep the knees over the ankles or middle of the foot, never allowing the knees to pass the toes to avoid strain. The goal is 10 repetitions.

Balancing Leg Extension

From a standing position, balance on one leg with the opposite knee held up. Slowly extend that leg straight out in front of you and bend it back. Repeat 10 times on one leg and then switch to the other.

Crunches

Lying down on the floor, face up. Place the hands under the head, to hold the weight of the head. Next, slowly squeeze the ribs inward so much that the upper body crunches up. Repeat 10 times.

Jumping Rope

Here’s an old classic and an amazing workout. Jumping rope can have a tremendous amount of value because you are teaching or learning something that can be done anywhere. Just remember that this is a learned process. Taking it one step at a time, and practicing, will create mastery.

• First, you must size the rope. Grab the rope with both hands and place the center of the rope under the feet. Next, hold both handles evenly to the armpits. The top of the handles should fit right under the armpits, with no extra slack in the rope. If there’s slack, you can cut the rope down or add in knots to shorten it to your size.
• Here is your first move – The Figure 8. When jumping rope the elbows are bent at 90 degrees and are held tight to the body. The movement should come from the wrist. Hold the rope in both hands and keep the hands together. Next, move them in a figure 8 fashion in front of the body while running in place, with the toes remaining close to the ground. The goal is to create an equal rhythm between the arm movement and the feet.
• Figure 8 with 1 jumps in the middle – Do one complete figure 8 then separate the hands and jump with both feet 1 time in between the rope. If you trip, no big deal, simply keep practicing and working on it. Here’s a great instructional video to get you and your kids started.

Exercises with your kids at home can be fun and sometimes frustrating.

Change your perspective and realize that these skills will be part of their fitness foundation for a lifetime. Have fun with it, it doesn’t have to be perfect and it can last from 5-minutes to 30, it’s all about having fun.

Live, Love, and Laugh!!

Editor’s Note: Be sure to join us for a free workout with Adita every Monday at 10 am! Tune in Monday mornings via FB Live on the Miami Mom Collective page or access her workouts here anytime.