Tag Archives: going strong

Going Strong: A Playground HIIT Workout Routine

How often to you bring your little ones to the playground? And how often does it interfere with your fitness goals? Although it might be a change from your normal workout routine, the playground offers plenty of equipment to create a quick, muscle-burning HIIT routine all while your kids run free.

Now that Avery is walking like a champ kind of good, I plan on taking her to playgrounds and activity centers a lot in the near and distant future. Last Sunday, Going Mom gave me free time as she played with Avery at home, so I took advantage of the nice weather (70 degrees and sunny!!) and went for a walk……with my 20lb weight vest.

My foot injury from a few months ago has come back because I started running and jumping on it before it healed all the way, so walking is the most I can do. I’ve been going back and forth on buying an indoor water rower like this one, but keep talking myself out of it. Not sure why since I’ve talked about it for years, but my wife is getting extremely tired of listening to me talk about it and says she’s about to just buy it herself.

rower, exercise, fitness, workout

Guess that would be hard to refuse. Think I should just “row” with it and buy the thing?

Back to the playground. On my lonesome walk with a 20lb vest and Ben Greenfield Fitness podcast playing, I ventured to a desolate playground at a nearby elementary school and figured I’d “play” a little to test things out for future Avery.

With my 20lb vest still on, I ended up doing this HIIT routine….

5 rounds of:

– Monkey Bar Chin-Ups x 5

– Parallel Bar Dips x 10

– Squats x 15

Rest 30 – 45 seconds between rounds.

And there you go, it took about 15 minutes to complete this full body workout.

I know I was alone and having a kid would make this a bit more challenging, but there’s always a way, and I’ll figure it out soon enough. Besides playgrounds, since the weather will turn bad again, I can’t wait to go to a trampoline park or indoor bounce house and play around with Avery there. Hopefully this darn foot is better soon……for the second time.

There are plenty of exercises you can do on playground equipment, and as the time passes, I will try more and share them with you here. The weight vest is optional, but as a stay-at-home dad, I’m probably already a minority to all of the at-home moms, so why not set myself further from “the pack” anyway?

Do you do workout routines on the playground?

Anywhere else that you’ve created workouts when with the kids?

Please share as I would love to hear and try them for myself!

Going Strong: Turn Playtime Into An Intense HIIT Workout

I’ve been feeling guilty lately. Avery’s activity level has increased tremendously from roly poly days of yore. Okay, it really wasn’t that long ago, but a guy can exaggerate, right?

Hi, I'm cute but can't do much else right now!
Hi, I’m cute but can’t do much else right now!

All parents say it, and we’ll probably continue to say it forever; time flies! I skipped the “when you’re having fun” part because, lets face it, it’s not always fun. 🙂

Anyway, my guilt is spurred from ability to play more and allow me to be active with her but I still take time to do my workouts in the garage as she plays in her jumper.

Umm, you done yet?
Umm, you done yet?

As long as I don’t push my luck, she remains patient and happily “talks”, screams, and jumps around, but these days are numbered. Soon, the jumper will no longer work and I need to setup an area for her to walk/crawl around. Keyword, WALK! You reading this, Avery?

Not one to just skip exercise for the day, I decided to get creative and combine playtime with a  full body HIIT workout routine. I really wanted to stay indoors when I made this since the weather sucked that day, and it turned out to be pretty fun but intense. Functional fitness just took on a new meaning!

For this, the only equipment you need is a box and a baby.

Playtime HIIT Workout Routine

3 Rounds of 30 Seconds On, 30 Seconds Off

Thrusters with baby

Mountain climbers

Crunches (or other form of core work)

Push-ups

Running in place

Push your kid in a box (Substitute Bear crawls if no box)

Burpees

Lift baby overhead from side to side (in the shape of a half-moon)

Alternating forward lunges while holding baby

Karate kicks

Avery enjoyed the random movements and did the whole time until the end of the 3rd round. I think she was getting frustrated with me setting her back down, so be warned.

Either way, I think you should definitely give it a try as it will get your blood flowing while you “play” with your kid. It’s a win-win!

I can’t stress enough how important our role as parents is when it comes to teaching by example. Please for the health of your kids as well as your own, show them how being active can be fun and rewarding!

Being the nice guy that I am, I put together a quick video to demonstrate the moves. Since my stack of boxes on the kitchen island wasn’t high enough, I cut my head off of the entire thing. Since I have no desire to do a re-shoot, I’m leaving it as is. #keepingitunique

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HopIOAkS4I]

I hope you give the routine a try and share your experience with me in the comments. If you have any questions, please go right ahead and ask away. If you’re in a time crunch, only do 1 or 2 rounds of this. Moving some is better than none!

This post is part of the #FitFamilyFriday Link up where you can find other excellent posts by healthy parents sharing health-inspired information. Click on over and check it out and share if you care!

 

Papa_Tont

Going Strong: Training Goals and An HIIT Workout Routine During Naptime

Remember how I posted my workouts from last week a whole 2 times? Yeah, that didn’t last too long. Not that I quit working out, far from, but that typing it all out took too long. Honestly, keeping myself in check is hardly an issue, just ask my wife, so other than sharing my workouts with all who care to read, it felt pointless.

Sorry to anyone who seriously looked forward to knowing my workouts from the prior week. Instead, I hope to share strength & conditioning routines created either by yours truly (that’s me) or found elsewhere.

High intensity routines are perfect for the time-strapped parent (or anyone short on time) as they provide a superb training stimulus in 30 minutes or less. That is, of course, assuming you push yourself out of your comfort zone. If there’s one carry-over from my years of marathon training to strength training, it’s learning to push far beyond my level of comfort to reach and/or surpass my goals.

One thing I have trouble with in my strength goals is actually doing less to gain more. With marathon training, it’s all about doing more; more miles, more time on feet, and essentially, more running! When training for strength, you focus on lifting “more” weight (i.e. get stronger), but not much else since your muscles need to rest and recover in order to repair themselves and grow stronger.

Strength training is obviously more detailed than that, but that’s an extreme Cliff Notes version. Lift heavy, eat a caloric surplus, rest, repeat. I’ve done better with this over the years, but still have a major problem with creating a caloric surplus. I’ll admit I have this fear of getting fat, like I used to be, and anytime I actually eat what I think is a lot, I have this urgent “need” to go run or do some form of exercise. It’s borderline OCD if not worse, but like I said, I’m getting better at accepting I MUST eat more to actually get stronger.

Even with my diet comprising of almost all whole foods that I prepare, I still find ways to be hard on myself as if I’m not doing enough. I think it’s time I get over it and eat more peanut butter! Love that stuff!

I could blabber on and on about this topic, but it’d become more redundant than it already is. Plus, I have an HIIT routine I created that I want to share with you and hopefully you’ll find it effective.

Although this is mainly a blog about my life as a stay-at-home dad, fitness/nutrition plays a major role in our lives and is a field I want to get into when Avery starts going to school. Plus, parents need to keep fit too. If not for their own health, for the sake of leading by example for their little ones!

Once your kid goes down for a nap or you’re graced with a patient child, try this routine for a full-body blast that’ll have you full of endorphins once finished.

I'm waiting for you!!
I’m waiting for you!!

6 Rounds for Time

6 *Pull-ups or Chin-ups

10 Burpees

15 Push-ups

10 1-arm **Kettlebell Swings (each arm)

15 V-Ups

*If you can’t do pull-ups/chin-ups, try inverted rows or dumbbell bent rows
**If you don’t have a kettlebell, use a dumbbell or anything you can old and securely swing

I was feeling this the next day and loved it! If you really push yourself, expect to take about 15 to 20 minutes to complete. I added 5 minutes of biking before and after but it’s not required.

Give this routine a try and let me know how you liked it (or didn’t like it) in the comments below. This is also a great finisher after pure strength training with compounds exercises like squat, deadlift, bench, etc.; just shorten it to 3 rounds.

Do you struggle with getting motivated to exercise or are you like me and struggle with doing less to gain more?

Do you like crossfit style “WODs” like this?

This post is part of the #FitFamilyFriday Link Party. Click below to find posts by other health-minded bloggers and be sure to share with your friends and family!

Papa_Tont