Tips for Exercising with the Whole Family

Exercise is so important to my husband and I for feeling our best. Since we became parents, we felt that it was so important to teach our kids the importance of staying active. Adalyn is now 3 and will tell us "I want to get my exercise so that my body feels good!". We are so proud of her! We make sure to be very positive about exercise and never talk about weight or anything to create body image issues. I want my kids to know that we exercise to feel great and to have fun doing it.

Part of showing our kids the importance of exercise and how fun it can be is to exercise with the whole family. Adalyn is very active and loves to get out of the house to exercise, especially since she knows that I enjoy it. Monkey see, monkey do! I want to share with you some of the ways that we exercise with the whole family.

These are some of our favorite ways to exercise with our whole family:

1. Family walks

You know that we are obsessed with our family walks that I always talk about. This morning, we put both kids in the stroller, bundled up as it was 40 degrees, grabbed our coffee and snacks for Adalyn and went on a three mile walk. It was great! Adalyn got out and walked as much as she could and it was a nice morning together.

2. Little exercise routine

Adalyn has seen Troy and I do squats and lifting weights a few times before and sometimes, she will grab a weight and show me how to do the exercises! It is so cute. I give her really light weights or she will just use one 5-pound weight and do a few exercises with me. We also like to stretch together. Pro tip: if your child's legs are "hurting" after walking for 1 minute, do some stretches together and it often helps to get Adalyn to keep walking!

3. Playing chase

4. Swimming together

It is cold now but all summer long, we went to all different pools, splash pads and beaches together and swam like fish. I want to visit some indoor pools this winter as well for swimming fun with the kiddos.

5. Dance parties

We specialize in silly dance parties at the Hernandez residence! Disney music is a specialty as well as crazy 90's hip-hop type songs. I don't care if I'm not the most perfect dancer because you know what? The kids do not care! They just want to have fun and laugh and be silly together. On cold days, dance parties are a great way to get everyone moving.


We love exercising together and it is a great way to spend quality time together and talk. It is also a great way for the kids to learn! Adalyn loves playing games like: "find a tree", "find a yellow sign", "what letter is that?", etc. There are many ways to learn besides in a textbook.