LAWRENCE, Kan.– Monday could bring the first snow day of the school year. If a dusting of snow just isn’t enough to entertain the kids, and you need a place to unleash their energy, a home workout for the whole family is an effective option.
Pure Barre in Lawrence knows a thing or two about working out from home. The barre studio has been live streaming its workouts for months thanks to the pandemic. Fortunately, barre workouts are really easy to recreate at home.
“Going into November, I will have taught Pure Barre for eight years and I don’t have a barre at home,” said Pure Barre Lawrence owner Carrie Barton.
Barton said people can use a counter top or chair, or really any stable surface to act as the barre.
Barton has a two and four year old at home, and she often finds that her kids want to ‘help her’ with workouts. Their toys often make some of the best tools as fill-in equipment. Little balls can be used in lieu of the exercise balls used in class, as are pillows.
“If you wear pantyhose, which isn’t really so much of a thing anymore, but if you have a pair lying around, you can just tie them in a knot,” to make an at home resistance band, Barton said.
You can hold your kid by the hands, so you can be facing one another to do a series of squats. Using the little ones as your partner gives you the added challenge of not hinging over completely, so you really have to engage your core.
Takings things down to the floor and down to basics, for a series of fire hydrants, is always funny for kids too.
“Kids like this because they love crawling around on the ground,” Barton said. “If they start to lose interest there’s always ‘are you a dog? are you a cat? what is your name? what color are you?”
Hopefully, the kids will then be tired enough to take a nap after.