Via At-Home Gym

I have a very fond memory from my childhood that I often think about. I remember my mom getting her jogging shorts on with her workout shirt and tennis shoes. Then she'd gather us up and head out to...wait we stayed home! We worked out in our own home. We'd take laps inside our house around every room and then we'd take time to stretch. I vividly remember my mom teaching me the butterfly stretch. Don't ask me why I remember this but I do. And it makes me smile=)

So today, when the 35 mph winds blew outside making it feel like 17 degrees outside, I KNEW we needed to improvise. We've been cooped up, sick, in this house for a week and a half and these kids needed to get some energy out!

Here's what you need to make your own at-home gym:

1 - The perfect workout outfits

2 - Clean the house. We were in desperate need of a straightening and the kids had fun since we made it part of our work-out game.

3 - Every good workout girl/guy needs a cool water bottle.

4 - Pick some great music. We chose some electronica/techno music from the iTunes radio which guaranteed a higher heart rate=)

5 - Kitchen condiments as weights. Use what works best for you of course. I used 2 cans of diced tomatoes and gave the kids 2 cans each of tomato paste. If you are feeling really adventurous you could probably pull out the 2Liter of juice or something like that, HA!

6 - Start with some warm-up stretches. It was hilarious to watch Zeke trying to count AND stretch AND move all at the same time=)

7 - We then worked up to some basic jumping and shuffle moves. ie. jumping like a frog to touch the sky, lunging like a leopard, shuffling like an undercover superhero...

8 - The jog around the rooms. We all took several turns being the leader and following each others motions while jogging.

9 - The cool down. Don't forget to get some water in between segments!

I must admit that I worked up a sweat by the end of it and had fun with the kids while doing it!

NOTE: If you'd rather just become a member of our Via At-Home Gym then you can simply make your $30 donation to the right under "Our Ministry Links And Partners" and click on "Feed The Kids"=)