Remember when you were a kid and you could eat all the bomb pops, cupcakes, and chips you wanted without a care in the world? Well, those days are long gone! These days one lick of that bomb pop will have you bulging out of your favorite jeans.
Part of the reason for that (outside of the normal “we’re all aging,” blah … blah) is that we were more active as kids. We didn’t have a gym to go to or a bootcamp to sign up for, all we had was a sidewalk or backyard and a ton of energy. We spent the day doing simple exercises that at the time seemed like childhood fun. Just because we’ve gotten older doesn’t mean we have to lose that fun and active spirit. Here are three childhood classics that we can use as workouts now and still have tons of fun!
Jumping Jacks
This exercise may not seem like much on the surface. Jumping jacks are a low-impact aerobic exercise that raises the heart rate and moves the limbs without putting too much strain on any given body part. Easy right? But don’t be fooled, you can burn between 2 ½ to 4 calories per jumping jack depending on your body weight. That can translate to some serious calorie burn if you jump around long enough!
Jump Roping
Remember going outside on a nice day and jumping single rope or double dutch with your girls and having fun … until some silly boy jumped in the rope and messed everything up … ugh! Well, just because we’re not little kids anymore, doesn’t mean the jump rope action has to end. Jumping rope is an effective calorie-burning exercise, which in turn means that it is a quality exercise choice for those interested in losing body fat. Depending on your body and the speed at which you jump, you can burn 14.8 calories a minute just from jumping a little double dutch with your girls like you used to do. Classic!
Hula Hoops
Who didn’t love a good hula hoop session when they were younger?! You could spend hours just trying to figure out how to spin that circular piece of plastic around your waist, neck, arms, and foot without messing up. Isn’t it amazing how the simplest workouts can be fun? And they still can be!
An hour of hula hooping can burn as many calories as running on a treadmill and works your core muscles, including your glutes, hip flexors, rectus abdominus, obliques and erector spinae. And if you want to kick the workout up to an adult level you can try to incorporate Pilates moves — the hybrid is called hoopilates — and other exercises that work other large muscle groups, including your thighs, chest, and back. The more muscles you work, the more intense your workout and the more calories you burn … all while having a little fun!
