CALF RAISES 1. Hold your baby against your stomach. 2. Raise up onto your tip toes, then slowly lower your heels back down to the floor.
BRIDGES 1. Lay on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Seat your baby on your belly. 2. Drive through your heels, squeeze the glutes, and lift your hips up into a bridge. 3. Lower yourself back down.
LUNGES 1. Hold your baby at your chest. (You can settle him or her into a stroller, too!) 2. Lunge forward, bending your front knee to 90 degrees and keeping it behind your toes. 3. Bring your feet back together, and repeat with the opposite leg. Tip: If you’re doing this while holding your baby, be sure to engage your abdominal muscles and keep good posture to support your back.
Jodi Butler, owner and coach of Pittsburgh FIT, recommends:
ANIMAL RACES 1. Assume the position of a bear (crawling with your hands and feet), crab (scooting with your feet in front of you and hands behind you, keeping your seat off the floor), or lizard (similar to a bear crawl but lower to the ground). 2. See who can make it across the yard or living room the fastest!
Chris Anthony, owner of Chris Anthony Fitness, recommends: TIC TOC: RED LIGHT, GREEN LIGHT 1. Stand up straight, facing your child. One person will be the leader, the other the follower. 2. The leader starts by saying, “Green light!” and performing tic-tocs. Raise your right leg to the right side as high as you can, then return it back
to the floor. Immediately raise your left leg to the left side as high as you can, then back down again. 3. When the leader says, “Yellow light!” repeat the same tic-toc movement, only much slower. 4: When the leader says, “Red light!” everyone stops. Can you balance on one leg? Do your best!
#FITFAM Urging kids off of the couch and onto the field (or gym, ice, or turf) is an increasingly difficult feat, considering all of the attractions that 2016 has given said couch. As if TV and video games weren’t enough, you’re now just as likely to catch kids idly scrolling through a phone. But, especially in their earliest years (pre-preteen), it’s imperative to get kids moving. “When you’re growing up, you’re able to reproduce more fat cells,” says Dr. Jim O’Toole, double board certified plastic surgeon and owner of O’Toole Plastic Surgery. “Once you get to your preteen years, you stop reproducing them. Individual fat cells get bigger or smaller, but the number is set.” So, those who grow up active, healthy, and fit are less likely to develop a weight problem later in life, simply because their fat cell count limits weight gain potential. Biologically, it’s a crucial way to set children up for a long, healthier life. “As a family, it’s important that you remain active.” And that is saying nothing of the habits that form in early years and are carried on, especially when it comes to eating. Dr. O’Toole raises his own three kids with that in mind. “My wife [KDKA-TV’s Susan Koeppen] and I have always attempted to start with the simple basics,” he says, “and the most basic thing is healthy eating habits and patterns so that eating healthy is an ingrained part of life instead of something you have to force on them later.” Teaching healthy habits comes from providing kids the knowledge that they need to make their own informed choices. For example, understanding that food is fuel for our body, or that foods of lower nutritional value should be limited when possible and not all calories are created equal. “You only get one body, so be conscious of what you’re putting into it,” O’Toole says, an important fact that he teaches his own kids. Understanding weight, health, activity, and the correlation between all three on a very fundamental level sets kids up to make the right decisions for the rest of their lives. As with all things, the process of educating children is not one size fits all. “As the kids get older, what you do evolves,” says O’Toole. This is true of both the activities that they’re involved in (by exposing them to a range early on so they may find their favorite) and the level of comprehension that you can expect about a healthy lifestyle. But one thing is certain: the earlier kids start, the better. “It’s not some casual thing you do,” says O’Toole. “It has to be a way of life.” O’Toole Plastic Surgery, otooleplasticsurgery.com. — Abby Dudley WH I R LM A G A Z I N E .C OM / WH IRL
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