"In Lindsey Bomgren's household, weekends are for treks to the park. She and her husband will run or cycle the half mile there while their 9-year-old son, 6-year-old daughter, and 4-year-old son hop on their bikes or scooters. 'My sprint intervals are, 'Can you beat me on your scooter?' says the personal trainer behind the fitness platform Nourish Move Love.
Once they all arrive, the kids run around and play 'lava monster, or whatever they play at the park,' while Bomgren and her husband take advantage of any equipment that's available. They'll do push-ups and tricep dips on a bench, pull-ups on the monkey bars, squats and lunges wherever there's space. 'The kids often join us in the monkey bar pull-ups — we all have pull-up goals at this point,' Bomgren says. (Her two older kids can both do five, and constantly compete with each other to see who can do more, she adds.)
Bomgren began doing these park workouts when she was a new mom with virtually no time in the day to exercise on her own. But even as her kids have gotten old enough to play independently and she can find more pockets of time for herself, she's kept up the routine. Not only does everyone in the family enjoy it, but it also gives her children a chance to watch their parents work out, and join the activity in their own ways.
'We've explained to them that heart disease runs in our family, so this is how we keep our hearts healthy and stay healthy enough to keep up with you,' Bomgren says. She and her husband also talk about how practice and repetition help them reach their goals. For instance, the family pull-up competitions initially grew out of their daughter's desire to do a pullover on the gymnastics bar, and Bomgren taught her to practice pull-ups as a way to build the necessary strength.
This idea of 'walking the talk' is a common sentiment among parents who value fitness enough to work in the industry. Betina Gozo Shimonek is a Nike Global Trainer and mom of three kids ranging from 20 months to 5 years (with another on the way). As much as she enjoys her solo workouts, she tells Popsugar she's intentional about getting active with her kids. 'For us, it's not about telling them they should work out, but instead showing them,' she says. 'We want to always lead by example.'" — Jennifer Heimlich
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