Playground Workout

I hope you all are having a great week! The weather here has been amazing in Arizona and we are loving being able to take long family walks to the park. It is so fun! Plus Caden loves the swings. And so does Josh.

Most of us live within walking or running distance from a playground. The next time you head to your local swing set try out this workout. For any of you mama’s who regularly frequent the park with your little ones this workout is for you. Get ready to get sweaty! Complete 1-3 rounds of this workout, reps for beginner, intermediate, and advanced are listed below each exercise.

Rows Targets: Shoulders, Traps, Lats

• Beginner: 10 Reps
• Intermediate: 15 Reps
• Advanced: 20 Reps

1. Hold on to low monkey bars, parallel bars, or any piece of playground equipment. To increase the difficulty of the exercise walk your feet forward and come onto your heels with your toes pointing upwards.
2. Elbows should be pulled in close to your sides and chest should be very close to frame.
3. Slowly extend your arms as you keep your body in a straight line. Pause at the bottom of the movement and use arms to return to starting position.

Squats Targets: Glutes, Quads, Hammies, Core

• Beginner: 10 Reps
• Intermediate: 15 Reps
• Advanced: 20 Reps

1. Place your feet shoulder-width apart or slightly wider. Hands in front of you pushing baby in swing.
2. Sit back and down like you’re sitting into an imaginary chair. Keep your head facing forward as your upper body bends forward a bit. Lower down so your thighs are as parallel to the ground as much possible, with your knees over your ankles.
3. Press your weight back into your heels. Return to starting position and repeat. Have fun playing with your baby.

Swing Pike Targets: Shoulders, Chest, Core

• Beginner: 5 Reps
• Intermediate: 10 Reps
• Advanced: 15 Reps

1. Place both legs on swing above the ankles and come to plank position.
2. Press down with your legs and at the same time pull your core in and lift your hips.
3. Work on stacking your hips over your shoulders and take your gaze to look towards the swing. This is tough so don’t worry if you can’t do it the first time.

Swing Single Leg Squats Targets: Glutes, Quads, Hammies

• Beginner: 6 Reps (Each Leg)
• Intermediate: 8-10 Reps (Each Leg)
• Advanced: 12 Reps (Each Leg)

1. Place foot on top of swing and hop other foot forward.
2. Bending the standing leg try to get your thigh parallel to the ground. Make sure the knee is over the ankle and not past the toes.
3. Return to standing and repeat.

Jumping Pull Ups Targets: Core, Shoulders, Lats, Biceps

• Beginner: 1-2 Reps
• Intermediate: 5 Reps
• Advanced: 10 Reps

1. Position yourself directly below the bar. Make sure that you can reach the pull up bar from a standing position.
2. Just as with regular pull ups, you must put your chin over the top of the bar. The difference is that you’re using your legs to propel your body to that top position.
3. Slowly lower yourself back down and repeat.

Have fun with this workout and let me know how you did or if you plan on trying this the next time you hit the playground.

xoxo, Tamara

PS…if you haven’t already I would love it if you liked The Workout Mama Facebook Page.