Creative ways to get moving!

For the last 17 years, I have been a California girl who is used to beautiful weather pretty much the whole year round. And before that, I grew up in Arizona - over 300 days of sunshine to get outside and move in a year! With our recent move to Michigan at the beginning of COVID, I have to admit… I have been a little thrown off my game by the stay at home orders as well as the frequently changing weather here.

But, as much as I am absolutely sure I will never go for a run in 30 degrees, or in a torrential downpour, I have finally figured out a few fun ways to get my cardio in. And… I have even found some great substitutes for a lat pull, leg press and overhead press. It took a little time and a cue from my kids on creativity to get the ideas rolling but now we are in full swing!

My favorite new cardio? Just Dance! Its family fun time and cardio all rolled into one and quite honestly gets my heart rate higher and my kinks out more than anything else. You can find it on both the Nintendo Wii and Switch and probably some other platforms as well and everyone will have a blast. 45 minutes gets my cardio in, their physical education and a LOT of laughter.

Some other cardio favorites with the kids… when there is good weather: family hikes, bike rides and basketball in the driveway. When there is not: indoor crab walk races in the basement, moon walks and skiing on slide disks, and we have just purchased attachments for the bottom of our sneakers and are looking for snowshoes to get outside even when the weather is not on our side.

For other types of exercise like strength and stability, I am a huge fan of exercise bands and pilates workouts, but we’ve gotten creative again and even incorporated the furniture. I use countertops for pushups, overhead press, and as a ballet bar, stairs for dips and gluteus medius work, and even have had my son lay on my legs while I hang my upper body over the back of the couch to get the same effect as a 45 degree hyperextension machine at the gym!

I’d love to hear some of the creative ways you have found to work out at home!