ELMO PUSHUPS – Training With Infants And Toddlers (5 years old and younger)

Children who are 5 and younger love to be active. More importantly, they really love to be active with YOU. Get in the habit of exercising with children when they are at this age. It is perhaps the best time to establish a father/child workout routine because they are the least judgmental and can basically go wherever you go. When they are very small, they can hang out beside you on a mat or in a bouncy seat almost anywhere you want to train.

Check out DAD’S DAY AT HOME. I made this short video for a mom’s civic group in Charlotte on how to have a very productive 15-20 minute workout with your little one nearby. It is a great way to exercise, get chores accomplished and spend time with your child all at the same time.

JOGGING STROLLER – I can tell you first hand (my daughter is 2 years old), that you will feel like a “Super Dad” if you do anything with a jog stroller. I am not a big fan of slow distance running with a stroller, because of the lack of natural arm movement. This will throw off your normal gait and could create back, hip, knee or other issues. A better approach (that also has more positive research for fat loss) is to run intense intervals for 20 to 30 seconds followed by a walk for 1-2 minutes. Also avoid downhill sprints to keep the knees safe and not lose control of the stroller.

A great training tool to incorporate with your stroller time is a resistance band. Here is a “Power Devo” I shot with my daughter that illustrates an INTERVAL RUN WITH A BAND:

BACK YARD BODYWEIGHT-CONDITIONING – This age is also great to just hang out with while you work out. They can kick a ball around in the yard while you hit a highly efficient bodyweight-conditioning program.
Remember that no fitness equipment is needed to do this.

Rest as needed (but not more than 3 minutes) and repeat for 3 to 5 total sets depending on time or desire.

This program produces results because you have everything covered: Lower body (squat), Upper body (push-up), Jumping Jacks (cardio blast), plank (core). Just pick the level that is right for you as a starting point and make every rep as perfect as possible.

Typically, I would advocate timed sets instead of counting reps, however if your little one is running around, you may have to stop mid-set at any time to deal with an issue. Don’t worry if you stopped for 2 minutes because of a “boo-boo”, just pick up where you left off with the last rep or exercise. Try to limit rest until after the planks.

TO-DO LIST TIMED WORKOUTS – Here’s another cool program with a simple approach. Choose one big exercise like a pull-up, dip, heavy deadlift or squat, push-up, dumbbell or kettlebell snatch, etc. Start a timer and see how long it takes you to hit 100 reps. Make the exercise hard depending on your level. For example, a Level 3 person from above could do 100 regular push-ups in a couple of minutes. But if they elevate their feet or put something heavy on their back, this might take a while. Recently, I wanted to see how long it would take me to do 100 pull-ups. I have a pull-up bar, but you can use a tree limb, top of a swing set, or any secure high place to hold. Pull-ups are tough and I wanted to keep the quality high, so I knew I would need to have adequate rest between sets of 5 reps. During rest, I colored with my daughter and emptied the dishwasher. The whole workout took 37 minutes, but I also got some chores done, and had quality time with my daughter. This is a great way to utilize the rest for other busy things on your “to do” list.


GET “ON” MY BACK – Another piece of equipment worth exploring is a Baby Bjorn or other “baby backpack” carriers that straps to your body. I have used an X-Vest with clients for years. Basically, this is a weighted vest that makes all normal body weight activities quite challenging. You can do the same thing with your child, but I would be careful. You want to make sure that being heavily front or back loaded doesn’t throw off your technique if performing an exercise. Also, be aware of dangers for your child (falling, compression, fear, etc.)

It’s worth mentioning using your child as a weight implement. One big problem with this is you will be so focused on not hurting your child that the form needed for the exercise you are trying to perform can get compromised. If you are holding or lifting your child various ways, keep the reps low and constantly check that they are happy and good with this arrangement.

FREEZE DANCE – This exercise is great with older toddlers. I think one of the best freeze dance programs is by Greg and Steve (kids song group) off their Kids in Motion CD. You could also play their favorite CD and just stand near the player and pause it occasionally. Dancing is an excellent form of exercise and when it is time to freeze, you can call out “low” (drop to the ground) or “high” (reach up while on tip toes), or “balance on one foot”, or whatever comes to mind. You can also hit jumping jacks, push-ups, squats, or other exercises instead of dancing (for some of us, it might actually be an improvement on our dancing style 😉 Your kid will love it and you get in a sneaky workout. They won’t mind dancing to it over and over and if you do a different exercise after each freeze, 3 or 4 songs will be a great workout. Freeze dancing and other nightly indoor routine activities are a great way to Put A Smile On Your Family Routine.

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