Working Out With Your Little Ones
When personal trainer Brad Krzykowski became a dad to baby Emi earlier this year, he quickly realized he needed to make adjustments to his workout routine.
“Exercising is usually a solo thing, but sometimes you have the little one and the only way to get something in is to incorporate her into what you’re doing,” he says. “The challenge (of having a new baby) is the time involved. You want to spend time with them as much as possible, but yet to let yourself go too much, especially in the field of being a personal trainer, is not necessarily an option. So, you have to make it work, and in order to make it work, it’s, ‘OK, baby is coming and we’re going to make it work together.'”
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Here, Krzykowski demonstrates some of the exercises he does with 8-month-old Emi:
* Baby-weighted seated dips (photo 1A and B) An easier version of regular dips, you can do this exercise at home using a chair or just about anywhere. With Emi in a harness, Krzykowski dips down until his elbows are about 90 degrees and pushes back up.
* Baby-weighted pull-ups (photo 2A, B and C) With Emi in a harness, Krzykowski pulls up his own body weight, plus an extra 20 pounds of resistance, working his lats, shoulders and biceps.
* Russian Twists (photo 3A, B, C and D) Sit down with your legs and torso in a V position, lean back about 30 degrees, and lift baby up from one side of your body and down to the other side. Keep your feet on the ground, or elevate your feet to make it harder. Keep your chin and chest up while you’re rotating, so you’re not hunched. This exercise works the core, including your obliques and rectus abdominis.
“(When exercising with your baby), do not put you or your baby’s health at risk by doing something so challenging that you might lose your balance or fall from it,” adds Krzykowski, owner of Beyond Fitness Hawaii. “So, definitely work within your comfort zone.”
