Kid-weight workout: hug squats and backpack push-ups
You need muscle work twice a week, and your kid wants your attention. Do both: they're the weight and the coach for 20 minutes.
- Time
- 20 min
- Cost
- $0
- Ages
- 1 to 6
- Where
- Living room floor
What you need
- A rug, mat or soft patch of grass
- A phone timer
- A water bottle
- A calendar to mark workout days
Read this first
- Lift under the arms, never by the hands. AAP says lifting, yanking or swinging a young child by the hands, wrists or arms can pull the elbow out of place.
- Close to your chest, never overhead. No tossing, no swinging and no pressing them above your face. They stay against your body the whole time.
- Lift with your legs. Feet shoulder-width apart, bend your knees, not your back, and don't twist with a kid in your arms. Too heavy or awkward? Skip that move.
- Stop if it hurts. Back twinge, sore elbow or a wobbly kid: done for today. With a chronic condition, ask your provider what activity is right for you.
Steps
- Warm up and hire a coach. Warm up three minutes without the kid. Make them the coach who counts out loud.
- Hug squats. Hold your kid against your chest. Squat slowly, back straight, 8 to 12 times.
- Backpack push-ups. On your knees, kid lying on your back. Slow push-ups, 5 to 10.
- Bridge rides. Lie on your back, kid on your hips. Lift and lower your hips 8 to 12 times.
- Sit-up kisses. Kid sits on your feet. A high five or kiss at the top of every sit-up.
- Go again and mark it. Rest a minute, do a second round if you can, and mark the day on the calendar.
If it stalls
- If they won't sit still on your back, give them a job: count, sing, or be the "captain" of the ship.
- If they're too heavy to hold close, stop using them for squats. They can coach, and you hold a backpack instead.
Workouts this week · sit-up kisses
Signed off: can do this.Signed by Date