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Healthy Fitness Hacks for Stay-at-Home Dads

May 5, 2016

Being a stay-at-home dad can make it difficult to workout daily, but it isn’t impossible. You can get in some good exercises around the house and play with the kids at the same time with these fitness hacks:

Chase Your Kids with Bear Crawls

 

Most kids love playing chase and you too can get in on the fun. Get down on your hands and knees and chase your kids around on the floor with a bear crawl, which will help strengthen your core. Playing pretend can add to the fun for both you and your kids.

Build Upper Body Strength & Your Baby’s Brain Power with Peek-a-Boo Handsome man father dad practicing yoga with his cute adorable beautiful daughter isolated on white backgroundPushups

Peek-a-boo pushups are a great way to bond with your baby while getting in some upper body strength workouts. Playing peek-a-boo also benefits your baby in that it helps them learn object permanence when you disappear from their sight and suddenly reappear.

To do this exercise, simply place your baby in their bassinet on the ground and begin doing pushups. When you go down, make sure you are out of their sight before lifting yourself back up and saying “Peek-a-boo!” You’re sure to get a smile.

Have Fun with Baby Bench Presses

Does your child love being picked up and “fly”? Baby bench presses help you work out your chest and arm muscles while giving your baby or toddler a fun way to improve their balance while suspended in the air. Simply lay on your back while holding your child under their arms, lifting up and down.

Pro Parenting Tip: It’s not a good idea to do this exercise with your baby or toddler right after a meal, as you could upset their stomach. Kids make enough mess as it is without that kind of help!

Get Fit Performing Daily Chores

Daily chores like mowing the grass and cleaning the house can give you quite the workout. In fact, just giving your floors a good cleaning can burn as many as 187 calories in 30 minutes. Even moving furniture for a deeper clean  can be an effective weight training exercise.

Pro Parenting Tip: You can even get the kids involved by making a game of it. For example, a scavenger hunt or pretending the messes to be cleaned up are alien invaders.

Get out of the House by Going For a Walk

Staying cooped up at home can make anyone crazy. Taking a walk with your kids after meals can benefit everyone by releasing stress, regulating blood sugar levels, and promoting healthy weight.

Pro Parenting Tip: Make sure that you and your kids are both properly fitted out with good walking shoes and everyone does some stretches beforehand. Doing so can prevent possible injury. If your child is too young to walk, make sure that you have a proper jogging stroller that is stable and has a hand break for additional safety.

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