The 20/20 Sidewalk Circuit Workout

When you’re a parent, there comes the funny point in time when your kids are becoming more independent, but still require constant supervision. Like my kids can be outside playing on the swing set just fine for hours, but there is that one moment when someone requires rescuing because they bit off more than they could chew and can’t get down from great heights. Or they’ll be fine digging in the mud with sticks, but there is always the threat of someone throwing mud on somebody and everything dissolving into a flood of muddy tears. Then there is the fact that they know the street is off-limits, but they love to get justcloseenough to make me nervous. Take my eyes off of them and they get into shenanigans fairly quickly.

So what does one do with all this time that must be spent supervising kids who are perfectly happy keeping themselves occupied? What does one do when she must be close enough to watch for street-playing and stranger-danger? She attempts to work out while they play! Here’s a recent workout I did while supervising in the front yard. This workout can be done in a front yard, back yard, at the park — really, anywhere you have a bit of room to roam while your kids play safely. I call it the 20/20 because you do 20 reps of most of the moves and you’re watching your kids. Har har.

20/20 Sidewalk Circuit Workout

Warm up: Walk for a few minutes. Do some laps up and down the sidewalk to get your blood flowing.

Step-ups: Whether it’s your front porch, back steps or a handy bench at the playground, do 20 step-ups onto the steps. If you don’t have a bench or step, do high-knee walking in place.

Wood chops: 20 wood chops each side. Ax optional.

Frankenstein walks: 20 or set a specific distance to travel; I did from one driveway to the next and turned around.

Walking lunges: Again, 20 or set a specific distance you want to travel.

Push-ups: Up to 10.

High knees: High-knee walking, 20 or set distance. Keep your core tight.

Squats: 20.

Calf raises: 20.

Repeat the circuit two to three times if you can. In addition to sneaking in moves like this while your kids play, you can sneak in more exercise simply by walking instead of plopping down on a bench; most of us spend way too much time sitting anyway!

Do you work out while your kids play outside? Now that it’s finally getting a bit nicer out, I imagine I’ll be doing a lot of these types of workouts! —Erin