Halloween Themed Workout Ideas
With Halloween right around the corner, you are probably thinking about taking your kids trick-or-treating. This is good exercise just on its own since you spend an hour or more walking around the neighborhood. However, there are also a lot of stops and a lot of waiting. You can turn this into a better workout by re-thinking how you trick-or-treat and adding some variations. Here are some different ways to turn trick-or-treating into a full-body workout.
Jog, Run, or Skip Between Houses
To start with, don’t just casually stroll between houses. This is going to keep you and your kids from burning as many calories as you could. Instead of doing that, try to change up your routine between houses, such as walking in long, fast strides or even going for a little jog between houses. Of course, you do need to make sure your kids are wearing safe, comfortable shoes and they don’t have long gowns or capes on their costumes. Another great idea is to actually skip when you are in between the houses. In just 5 minutes, someone who weighs 150 pounds could burn around 70 calories by skipping alone. Think of what you can burn after a night of trick-or-treating with your family.
Use a Wagon For the Little Ones
If you are bringing toddlers with you trick-or-treating, they might not be able to walk safely from house to house. This means you might have been thinking about putting them in a stroller for when they get tired or carrying them. Carrying toddlers is a great workout, but it can tire you out quickly. A better option is to push or pull them in a little wagon.
Wagons are actually a lot harder to maneuver than strollers, so while your toddlers get to have fun on their wagon ride, you are getting in a good workout two. Alternate between pushing or pulling the wagon and letting the little ones ride in the wagon when you are on the street, then help them out at each house when they want to collect their candy.
Get the Neighbors Involved in a Trick-or-Treating Challenge
A trick-or-treating fitness challenge is a great idea when you are friendly with your neighbors and think they might want to participate. You can decide on any type of challenge you want, and give out a fun Halloween prize to the winner. Here are some different ways to create a trick-or-treating fitness challenge:
Track everyone’s activity with a Fitbit – One way to have a Halloween fitness challenge is to have each adult use a Fitbit that can be tracked as a team. This lets you accurately see how many steps were taken during the night. At the end of trick-or-treating, the prize can go to the person with the most steps or who walked the furthest distance. This will require going out of your neighborhood, but it allows your kids to have fun, while you get in a great workout.
Log a certain amount of squats, burpees, or lunges – Another challenge is to have each parent in the neighborhood doing workouts while their kids get candy from the door. You can pick an exercise to do, such as lunges, burpees, or squats. Keep track of how many you do, and give a prize at the end of the night to the person who logged the most.
Race around the neighborhood to see who finishes first – If you live in a cul-de-sac you can make an easy fitness challenge by having families go around to the houses as fast as they can, then give a prize to the family that reaches the finish line first.
Do Costume-Specific Workouts
There are also workouts you can do when you see certain costumes. You need to start by assigning a workout and number of repetitions for each type of costume you think you will see. Pick some common costumes for the easier workouts and what you imagine are rare costumes for the harder workouts. Here are some examples you can use, but you can choose any combinations you want:
Baby in a bumble bee costume – 5 burpees
Any Avengers costume – 10 jumping jacks
Costume with a mask – plank for 30 seconds
Witch costume – 7 reverse crunches
Pokemon costume – Sprint to the next house
Star Wars costume – 7 leg lifts
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume – jog in place for 20 seconds
Plan Your Route Carefully
Finally, you can increase your fitness during trick-or-treating by planning your route carefully. Instead of just going around your own neighborhoods, drive around to other neighborhoods to look for streets with a steep incline, lots of hills, or houses with a lot of steps. Instead of waiting on the sidewalk, walk up the steps with your kids, challenging yourself to run up them or take two steps at a time. These small changes can make a big impact when you are trying to increase your fitness level.
Tips For Planning a High-Fitness Route:
* Look for streets with a lot of hills or steep climbs
* Find houses with stairs leading up to the front yard
* Go to houses with long driveways you can sprint down for an extra workout
* Go to areas for trick-or-treating that require more walking, such as the local mall
Remember that any daily activity you do can be something that burns calories and helps with your fitness, including trick-or-treating. Getting your kids involved makes it more enjoyable and helps them battle childhood obesity at the same time.
