14
Washington F FAMILY
training for them,” she says.

What can parents and
kids do together?
While it’s great to give your kids time
and space to use up their energy,
you’ll need to build in time to work
out, too. If you’re pressed for time,
there are plenty of ways to get good
exercise side-by-side with your kid.

Functional movement and bodyweight
exercises can be easily adapted for difficulty
and mobility, says FIT360DC’s McGee.

Kids can do push-ups or assisted push-
ups on their knees or on an incline, with
their hands on a couch or chair, and par-
ents can do the same, altering the number
of push-ups or the speed at which they
complete the exercise.

“The faster the exercises, the more
you’re going to elevate your heart rate and
have it be more of something that’s gen-
erally the conditioning part,” McGee says.

“Where the tempo is a little slower is going
to be more reflective of core and strength.”
The same idea applies to squats or
sit-ups. Adults can also add weights or
resistance bands at home to add intensity
to the workout.

Side-by-side workouts also have another
positive consequence for kids, adds
PUSH511’s Hall: They get to be inspired by
role models prioritizing physical health.

“They [see] their parents consistently
coming to the gym,” Hall says. “And they’re
like, ‘Well, I want to do that.’” 1
CHILD AND PARENT: ADOBE.COM
Working out
next to their
parents has
a positive
consequence for kids. They
get to be
inspired by
role models
prioritizing physical health.

and cardiovascular endurance.

These are big words, but they can really
translate to basic movements: running
around (speed), jumping over obstacles
(agility) or throwing a ball to hit a target
(accuracy). With groups of kids on play-
dates, these activities can be gamified and
can look like an obstacle course, races or
even playing catch.

These activities can be done anywhere
and adapted to accommodate small spaces
or furniture available for certain exercises,
such as assisted push-ups or tricep dips.

“They can go to the park, they can go to
their backyard, they can do it in their liv-
ing room,” Hall says. “I mean, in COVID,
we were all doing stuff in our living room.”
Quanteria Williams-Porche, director of
New Orleans -based Split Second Fitness,
a fitness center that serves people with
disabilities, suggests getting creative with
movements for kids who have physical
disabilities. As the mother of a child with cerebral
palsy who uses a wheelchair, Williams-
Porche takes her son to the park and
holds him as he tries to do pull-ups on
the monkey bars or pushes against a
climbing wall, which can help build good
trunk support.

Parents can also purchase resistance
bands for their kids to pull to continue to
build upper-body strength, depending on
the child’s ability.

“We’re just working in different ways to
provide some resistance—some strength