Monday Moves: playground fun

When I was young, my routine visits to the playground comprised of us children exhausting ourselves endlessly on the swings, while our parents sat peacefully on the benches munching on a home-made snack. 
I mean they definitely deserved it. After all baby-sitting in itself is such a daunting task that it demands the extra calories' fuel.

I really need to eat .. *nom nom* .. or else I'll vanish in thin air!

But now that when I am a parent myself, instead of gaining calories, I choose to lose them by following these simple exercises that can easily be done at the playground, while your kid's busy. 

Standing Push-Ups

Stand at arm's length from either a bench or a slide, with feet shoulder width apart. Place your hands at the top of the bench, or at a bar on the slide ladder, that is no higher than your chest. Lift up your body in the air, so that the weight is resting solely on your toes. Keeping your body straight, and abdominal muscles tucked in, bend your elbows until your body almost touches the bar. Push back. This will be one cycle.

Attempt doing 12 to 15 push-ups.

Criss-Cross

Sit on a swing and hold on to the chains on either sides. Extend your legs straight in front with feet joint and toes pointed. Lean back into the chair at about 45-degrees. Open your legs slightly to form a V. While contracting your leg muscles, cross your left calf over the right, whilst trying to keep the swing still. The tension targets the abdominal muscles. Return to the V position. This makes one set. Start by doing 10 sets and then counting up to 15.

Bench Dip

As the title suggests, the exercise involves a bench and aims to tone the arms and focuses on the triceps.

Slide down the bench when sitting down to grp the end with your hands on either side of your shoulders. Extend your legs infront of you, with knees bent. Keeping your back close to the bench, bend your elbows and lower your body so it just only touches the ground, then pull up quickly.  

Do up to 5 sets. Take a break of 10 seconds and then repeat. Every week increase the sets by 5 or till you feel your arms might fall off.

Make the most of the time you get during these trips; make it the parents' playground and play along with your child to get a personalized workout of your own.