Successless Sit-ups

I am on a mission to do one sit-up. I can't believe my abdominal muscles are so weak they're unable to eek out a single sit-up. Mind you, I was never the sit-up queen, but I could at least do a respectable number when it came time for the Presidential Fitness Challenge in school. Even after six plus months of regular exercise I still can't perform this basic feat. It's definitely tell-tale about my starting fitness level, and to be honest I can't remember when I actually did my last sit-up.

Recently, a friend and I tried working out on the playground equipment at a local park, and it was actually a lot of fun. I have two kids 15 and 11 years, and I am ashamed that as an adult I've never used a playground to improve my own physical fitness. Fellow moms and dads, do your bodies a favor. Check out this playground workout from Shape, and quit passively sitting on a park bench while your kids play.

During our playground workout, my friend and I employed a step for step-ups and uneven squats, climbing bars for reverse push ups and swings for abdominal planks. Oh, and that bench where I usually plant myself and watch my kids play was perfect for modified push ups, mountain climbers and triceps dips. Mixing in a few cardio sprints got our hearts pounding, and by the time we finished we'd managed to burn a respectable number of calories.

Perhaps the most challenging was using a slide for sit-ups. Both of us kept slipping down. Fortunately, we did not land on our heads. As I mentioned earlier, I really can't do a sit-up anyway so I settled for a few "half" crunches. Someday soon, I know my body will award me that one sit-up. Until then, I just gotta keep trying.

Take the kids to the park and workout. Let me know how it goes!

http://www.shape.com/fitness/workouts/playground-workout-29-ways-shed-pounds-park