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Pinched for time, one mom gets a workout in an unlikely spot: the playground

I am sure all moms can relate, but one my biggest challenges as a working mom is finding the time to workout.
/ Source: TODAY

I am sure all moms can relate, but one of the biggest challenges I face as a mom who works outside the home is finding the time to workout. Now, before I get scolded by all the fitness buffs: I know, I know, I know — I should wake up extra early before my son wakes and get my workout in.

There is just one problem. I get up EARLY without factoring in any physical activity, and I just cannot function at any level before the hour of 6 AM. So that leaves me trying to fit in a workout during the work day, which isn’t always consistent.

What about the weekends you say? I work on Saturday, and Sunday is truly a family day, so I feel guilty if I sneak out and workout. So where does that leave me? Generally feeling not in shape and promising myself that “next week I am DEFINITELY going to work out. Every. Single. Day. During. Lunch.” Yeah. We all know how that story ends.

So it got me thinking one day when I was chasing my son Jenson around on the playground why there wasn’t some sort of workout I could do there. Like, ON the playground. And maybe even do it with him.

Turns out, there is something like this and it’s called Flyaroo Fitness. Created by cofounders Ethel Baumberg and Ashley Spicer, it’s a fitness program designed for entire families that includes toddlers and babies, and it utilizes local parks and playground. So no gym membership fees!

They accommodate any workout to the appropriate ages of the kids. So Jenson and I met up with another family one morning in a local park in my neighborhood and got to work. Ethel led us through a series of circuit exercises using the playground equipment such as the monkey bars, slide and stairs. Flyaroo’s mission is to inspire a new generation of fit and healthy children. And I’ll be honest, I wasn’t so sure I was doing that at first. As you will see in the video, Jenson’s attention span was...fleeting.

So while I wanted to plank and do mountain climbers, Jenson was more interested in running off into the sprinklers or climbing up a bench. But Baumberg assured me he was learning by observing and that I was setting an early example of how fitness is important to our family. The other kids we worked out with ranged in age from 5 to 10 years old and I saw first-hand how excited they were about working out and the parents were getting a legitimate workout.

I got a legitimate workout, too, that day, but it was mostly from chasing Jenson around. However, it made me look at our local playground in a totally different light. Honestly, I think Jenson at 2 was a bit young for me to get an actual full-body workout but in a year, I could see this being a great option for exercising and not even needing to leave the playground!

For more information on Flyaroo Fitness in your community, head here: http://flyaroofitness.com/