By Fredrica Syren
Ever since becoming a mom, I have found that getting my exercise in is a bit of a challenge. Since the birth of my second child, it has been almost impossible to get my workout done without taking away time from the kids. I could feel the lack of moving my body and, before I knew it, my back started to hurt and I felt tired all the time.
So my husband and I began trying a new workout routine to get back into shape. Once a week we took turns attending yoga class after our kids were asleep. It was hard, though, because that was kind of our time to be husband and wife; and we already were, in general, tired or in need of catching up on work. Our new routine now includes biking, hiking or power walking with the kids.
Power walking—Our oldest bikes or uses her scooter, so our walking will be faster but she 
won’t get tired so quickly. My son of course travels in a jogging stroller. Before, when my five-year-old was little, I would go out early for a run or power walk with her in the stroller as she entertained herself with breakfast and a movie on a small DVD player. She thought it was great and I got a 1-hour workout.
Biking—Biking is something we all love, so we’re so lucky to have many bike paths in San Diego. We have simple bikes with three gears. Our five-year-old bikes on a tandem attached to my husband’s bike. This way, she helps peddle while learning about balance, and biking up and down the hills. Our 17-month old son sits in a baby bike trailer. He can sometimes get a little bored, but I found that if I give him a snack and some toys, he will play happily and eat for an hour-long bike ride. A sun hat has been essential to shield his eyes from the sun.
Hiking—With a break at some point, we can hike about 2 miles with our five-year-old 
walking and our 17-month-old sitting in a backpack carrier. He will even fall asleep in this. When he was under a year old, we would put him in an Ergo, which allowed us to carry him on our front or back.
The other way we work out is by dancing with the kids. Oh boy, do they love this and go nuts as soon as we turn on ABBA After few songs’ worth of dancing hard while holding my son, I’ve worked up quite a sweat!
To read more about exercising with kids go here: