Kids of STEEL — Jungle Gym

Have you ever noticed how many exercises look like animal movements? This Kids of STEEL workout consists of only movements named after animals. These are all body-weight workouts, so you will not need any equipment at all, just some space to move around in. When you’re done try the post-workout animal stretches to cool down.

Share with us which animal exercise was your favorite and tag us (@Kidsofsteelpgh) if your parent posts a #SweatySelfie.

Animals Exercises

Bear Crawls: Crouch down with your hands on the ground in front of you about shoulder-width apart. Raise your hips up high and walk/run around like a bear! Once you get the hang of it you can make it more challenging by going side to side or backwards for one minute. This move is a great way to strengthen your upper-body and core.

Crab Walk: This move is almost the same as a bear crawl, but your chest will be facing up towards the ceiling and your hands will be on the ground behind you. See if you can move forward and backward and side to side like a crab on the beach for a minute straight.

Crab Toe Touch: Get into a crab walk pose with both feet and hands on the ground with your chest facing upwards. You start by lifting up your LEFT leg and reach across your body with your RIGHT arm to touch it. Put them back down on the ground and lift up your RIGHT leg and touch it with your left arm. Once you get the hang of them try speeding up and see how many you can do in 30 seconds.

Cheetah Sprints: Cheetahs are the fastest animals in the animal kingdom and can run nearly 70 mph! The fastest a human has ever been recorded running is 27 mph. Try running super-fast in place for 1 minute straight. This should get your heart beating fast!

Frog Jumps: Squat down and begin with your hands on the ground between your feet like a frog. Then jump up as HIGH as you can and extend your harms above your head. Try doing 25 frog jumps in a row!

Bunny Hops: The goal of frog jumps is to jump as high as you can. The goal of bunny hops is to hop up and down as quickly as you can. Start standing up like a bunny and do quick short hops for 45 seconds straight.

Starfish jumps: These are just like jumping jacks. Extend your arms and legs out high and wide to look like a starfish while jumping up and down. Count how many that you are able to do in 1 minute. Then take a quick break to catch your breath and try for a second time to see if you get even more!

 

STRETCHES

Butterfly Stretch: Start by sitting on the ground touching the bottoms of your feet together so that your legs look like a butterfly. Then extend your arms out in front of you as far as you can and bend forward. You should feel this stretching your groin muscles.

The Ostrich Stretch: Start by standing with your feet together and your arms up above your head. Then slowly bend downward, try to touch the ground with your hands and pretend that you are sticking your head in sand like an ostrich. This will stretch your hamstrings and help increase flexibility.

Bird Wings: Stick your elbows out to the side to make bird wings. Move them up and down like a bird flapping its wings slowly. Then make circles both clockwise and counter-clockwise to stretch your arms, upper back, and shoulders.