Tabatas for Kids

One of my most important goals as a parent is to help my children foster an appreciation for fitness and activity. What better way to do that than to take my workout outside and let Mackenzie take part?

I’ve already mentioned that I’m doing tabata style workouts. The two I previously posted (which you can see here and here) are great for doing with kids.

Over the weekend, I decided to take my workout outside and do a running tabata with Mackenzie.

First, we made a chalk line for our “start” and another line for our “finish.”

Then, we raced.

Rest for a ten count.

Race again.

Repeated 8 times through.

Then, we took turns running “as fast as we can.”

*Bending the rules of tabata to match what works for Mack and for me*

We made sure to have lots of water and a healthy snack

Then dad got home from his bike ride and we raced him.

Then we raced on the bikes.

I also did Tabata Three with Mackenzie!

That one has some really fun moves: caterpillar planks, jump squats, spider planks, etc. Mack had a blast jumping around with me and before we knew it, we had both done a pretty good workout.

Lots of fun!

I want to make sure that y’all have seen these printouts for the tabata workouts. The printouts have lots of little tips and also show how to do some of the moves you might not know just by name. There are three so far – you can find all three under the Fit Mama: Workouts tab.

*After putting this post together, I saw an article from the BBC about playgrounds for adults. I absolutely love this concept and hope that it gets adopted here in the US. You can read the full article on the adult playgrounds here.

The point is, working out can also be family time. It doesn’t have to be time spent away from the kiddos, cooped up in some gym. The goal for me is an active and healthy lifestyle for us all.

How do you incorporate fitness with your kids?