9 Exercises to Do With Your Infant
If you’re a new parent, there’s one thing that is certain: you don’t have a ton of free time to exercise. You still want to keep up your health and fitness, but between feeding, changing and bonding with your newborn, it’s not easy to find time to workout.
Joe Laws, the founder of Optimize Fitness, knows this better than anyone. In addition to running a fitness app startup and working full time as a senior software developer for Google, he just had his second child.
“When I had my first child, I had a blast bonding with him at a young age, but also wanted to stay in shape. I realized I could combine the two and bond with my baby while exercising.”
As a certified personal trainer, he began collecting exercises you can do with your newborn. After trying them out himself, he realized they were not only effective, but fun for both him and his baby. He decided to add workouts you can do at home with your infant to his AI personal training app.
We decided to share some of Joe’s favorite exercises to do with your newborn! Download the Optimize Fitness app where you can find more exercises and build workouts that you and your infant can do together.
Chest, Arms and Shoulders
#1 Infant Bicep Curls
Muscle Group: Bicep
Babies love this up and down curl movement and you’ll love the definition it gives your biceps.
#2 Infant Chest Pumps
Muscle Group: Chest
Your baby feels like they’re flying while you’re sneaking in an effective upper body workout.
#3 Infant Shoulder Press
Muscle Group: Shoulders
Babies happen to be the perfect weight for shoulder presses. As a bonus, it’s one of their favorite movements!
Abs and Lower Back
#4 Infant Hip Bridges
Muscle Group: Core
Work on your midsection while your baby enjoys the ride. Adding the weight of a baby to traditional hip bridges makes for a great challenge.
#5 Infant Press and Crunch
Muscle Group: Core
Pressing and crunching with your baby is a great way entertaining for both the parent and the child, and makes for a efficient ab workout.
#6 Infant Scissor Kicks
Muscle Group: Core
This move directly targets any unwanted belly fat. Holding your baby on top makes this more challenging than traditional scissor kicks.
Legs, Glutes and Cardio
#7 Infant Lunge Squats
Muscle Group: Glutes and Legs
The gentle up and down movement of the stationary lunge might just get your baby giggling and your legs un-jiggling.
#8 Infant Squat Pumps
Muscle Group: Legs (with shoulder bonus!)
This one feels just like playing! As you come out of the squat, lift your baby into the air as they squeal with delight.
#9 Stroller Run
Muscle Group: Cardio
Don’t forget the classic! Choose your distance and get your heart rate up while bonding with your baby outside.
If you want to try the workout for yourself and explore other exercises to do with your newborn, you can download the app here.
Do you have other infant, toddler, or child friendly exercises you use at home? Share them with the Optimize Fitness team!
