Working out with your kids makes it fun

Looking at one of the fan photos posted to Get Moving Mom's fan page reminded me about the best way to get in a workout and be a great parent. Work out with your kids.

This is possible at every age. When they are infants, I mean you plop 'em, then you prop 'em in a front carrier and get moving. The added weight gives you a better workout and the babies love it. They get to be close to mom and go for the ride of their lives.

When they get older, they are able to get on the floor and crunch or climb on your back while you struggle through push-ups. Yesterday on our jog back from the bus stop, my five-year old daughter said, "Mommy. Carry me on your back while you run." At first, I looked at her cross-eyed then I thought about the great bun burner and went for it. I made it huffing and puffing to our mail box and slowly squatted to allow her to dismount and proceeded to fall out on the ground from exhaustion. It was fabulous. As soon as I hit the concrete my butt tightened like it used to after running the 400 meter dash. YES!

When you feel it like that, you know it's on. Yeah, you'll feel it in the morning, but it's not a good workout unless you break those muscles down. If you finish a workout and you can breathe normal, your legs and arms are barely misted and not shaking threatening to buckle under you--well in my opinion you haven't even had a workout.

My other favorite thing to do is to meet my kids outside and try to beat them at whatever it is they are doing. Everything they do usually involves running, jumping, spinning and throwing. The older they get the harder this gets, but that's the idea. Your kids will have a great time as they go from getting whipped by you to the day when they are whooping you. I used to leave them all in my dust and toy with their emotions as they grappled for me during our games. Now my thirteen-year old can beat me running and he is loving it--me, not so much. I'm not looking forward to the day I can no longer wrestle him to the ground and pin him easily. He is though and that makes it fun!

Let it snow!

I almost forgot about the exercise that is near and dear to my heart. Since we've moved to the south I thought I'd never be able to take part in it again. But, lo and behold it has snowed in Raleigh, North Carolina today. Enough to pile up and make driving near impossible on the neglected streets in our neighborhood.

I couldn't believe how much I had missed shoveling snow, but it truly was my saving grace in the winter when we were holed up in the house most of the time in Iowa.

Like Christmas morning, I donned my pitiful collection of winter weather gear (we didn't even bring gloves with us) and started project snow removal. When we left Iowa we graciously gave all our winter tools away to neighbors laughing as we did so. Well, the joke was on me as I performed the advanced level of this everyday workout. I made my way slowly through the snow covering the sidewalk leading to our front door with none other than a regular metal garden shovel. It actually worked great for the heavy ice and slush under the top layer, but you can imagine the type of inefficiencies this caused. After 30 minutes, I had only managed to clear our walk. All for the sake of getting a great set of arms, right?

Well, even I'm not that crazy, so I finally walked over to borrow a neighbors snow shovel. I was flying through the chore now with ease. After my 30 minutes of the advanced, the next 30 minutes was a breeze.

Here's how to make the most of it.

1. First, change how you think about shoveling snow. Instead of a horrible task that has to get done, think about the fabulous workout you're getting doing something that had to be done anyway.
2. Make sure you're using your legs and arms, NOT YOUR BACK!
3. Squat, scoop, lift and throw.

By the time you've finished your sidewalk, stoop and driveway, you've put in about an hour or more of a good leg, butt and arm workout.

So the next time it snows, beat your kids outside to "play."