Thursday Fitness Motivation

From my beautiful friend, Katherine, who is a momma of 2, and has a degree in Kinesiology! 
Get out your strollers and have some fun!! :)

Good morning mamas!

I’m excited to share with you a super fun, easy and quick circuit that you can do with your stroller that will do double duty incorporating both cardio and strength training!  Women can tend to focus on cardio, but strength training is really important too as it will contribute to more lean muscle mass, increased bone density – critical in preventing osteoarthritis – as well as lean muscles burn calories even when we aren’t workout out (Bonus, right).

THE CIRCUIT is 3 sets of:

5 minutes of cardio (skipping rope, jogging or brisk walking)

10 repetitions of all 5 exercises

EXERCISES:

20 WALKING LUNGES alternating each leg so that lunge 10x each leg

-          Make sure to keep your back straight (straighter than shown) and core tight (by pulling your belly button in)

-          Don’t allow your forward knee to go beyond that toe as it will put too much stress on your knee

10 SQUAT JUMPS

These are a super fun and effective way to work your glutes, quads and core muscles as well as calves! If you find jumping too strenuous on your joints or experience knee pain, please stop and do regular squats.

-          Remember: Don’t allow your knees to go beyond your toes

-          Tip: Envision a chair behind you and sit back into it, keeping your back straight then jump straight up and land keeping knees soft

10 CALF RAISES

-          Keeping your posture tall and core tight, lower your calves over the side of a curb and raise all the way.  These will help give you nice defined calf muscles (also good to do when doing your hair!)

5 WIDE ARM PUSH UPS & 5 CLOSE ARM PUSH UPS

-          Using your stroller (WITH THE BRAKE ON) or a park bench/curb elevate your feet, keep your back straight and lower down into a push up where your elbows are as close to a perfect 90 degree angle.  If you have any back pain, do not elevate your feet, and bend your knees. As you extend your arms, remember not to fully lock your elbows.

-          For wide arms, keep hands shoulder width apart – this will focus more on your chest and bicep muscles

-          For close arms, keep your hands closer together, a few inches apart, and this will focus more on your triceps

10 TRICEP DIPS

-          Using stroller, bench or curb to elevate feet, slowly lower body by bending Elbows until they reach a 90 angle, then extend until elbows are only slightly bent but not locked

Hope you all enjoy these fun exercises to do with your babies or at the park!

Katherine