Grandparent Stamina: Workouts to Keep Up With Your Grandchildren

Goodness, look at that! You’re a grandparent!

Tell me, can you project into the future and visualize how your life is about to change and evolve in the years stretching out before you? Oh, it’s going to change, alright. It’s going to be big! Are you ready?

When you think about being a grandparent do you envision big eyes that lock onto your gaze exuding love and trust? Do you imagine full-face toothless smiles accompanied by excited, flapping arms and pumping legs when you arrive for a visit? Do you picture a chubby little hand stretching up to meet yours as you go for your first walk together?

When they’re a little older, maybe you intend to pass on talents you have and picture catching a first fish, or hours in the garden gathering food that will be on the table at dinner or teaching your grandchild their first jump rope trick! Perhaps you plan on taking them camping and hiking to show them what amazing surprises nature holds in both the animal world and plant world.

All of these wonderous moments are part of being a grandparent, and if I am making you smile at the thought of the things you plan to do with your grandchild as they get older, then let’s consider how important it is to maintain the ability, and the energy, to move through our days with ease by moving our bodies regularly. Keeping up with those little powerhouses can be challenging if we aren’t prepared.

Babies grow quickly, but I don’t need to tell you that. They get heavy. They become toddlers who still want to be carried. They’re mobile and they can run faster than you can say “uh-oh”! With no warning whatsoever they can suddenly launch themselves from playground equipment into your arms because that is where they want to be! Catch!

The next minute they will want you to follow them as they clamber up and over logs and rocks towards the next fabulous adventure – and it is fabulous – but you will want to be ready for it because it takes strength, agility, balance and endurance to keep up with grandchildren. Without these components of fitness it will be difficult to get in and out of the fishing boat, go for bike rides, get down to draw on the sidewalk with chalk or sit on the ground to have a picnic without worrying how you’re going to get back up!

Let’s talk about muscle mass. It is no secret we begin losing our muscle in our 30’s and 40’s, but before you say, “well, I’m 60 and I haven’t noticed it so I’m good”, know that the process happens faster between ages 65 and 80. If you are physically inactive you can expect to lose up to 5% of your muscle mass each decade after your thirties. It happens slowly. We don’t notice until suddenly when trying to keep up with our grandchildren, we are surprised to find ourselves weak, fatigued and we don’t seem to be able to function the way we used to. When did that happen???

Okay, enough of the scary stuff. Here is the good news: we can strengthen our muscles any time and it doesn’t matter how long it has been or how old we are! The most effective way to build strength in our muscles is to put them to use. It is when we don’t use them that it becomes problematic.

Exercises to keep up with grandkids

1] Base Move: Walk – try to do this daily. Start with 5 minutes, work up to 30 minutes. Gradually, over time, increase speed and include hills once or twice a week to really get the benefits!

Strength moves

2] Strength:  Squats, Walking lunges, Push-ups, Plank, Row, Bird-Dog: Two to three times a week perform these moves, aiming for one to two sets of 8 repetitions of each move. Adjust according to your ability. Strength comes into play with everything we do - getting up from a chair, lifting our grandchild, carrying the picnic basket and toys uphill to that special spot under the trees, pushing their bike home when they have had enough and carrying bags of soil for the garden you are both going to grow together.

Balance moves

3] Balance: Standing leg swings, Stationary stand on one foot, Walk a line heel to toe. Practice these often, at least three times a week, just doing a few of each when you think of it. We don’t want to find ourselves standing on the sidelines as our grandchildren navigate uneven ground with ease to get to the seashore, tree fort or the strawberry field!

Agility moves

4] Agility: Fast steps, Lateral side step/shuffle, Toe taps (use a box or a step, anything you have on hand that is stable). Perform each move for one minute and do 2 or 3 rounds. These moves will give you the ability to move quickly and nimbly when necessary. Think reaction time! Remember up above when I mentioned a grandchild may catapult themselves from equipment into your arms when you are not expecting it? That happened to me! It was scary! I did catch my granddaughter who leaped from the top level of a climbing apparatus but I could have been looking elsewhere just as easily. Of course, agility would not have helped that at all, and thankfully it didn’t happen, but definitely she would have hurt herself had I not been able to react quick enough or had the strength to catch her.

Flexibility moves

5] Flexibility/Mobility: Rocking toe to heel, Knee circles, Broomstick reach. Use these as a warm up for your joints daily. Ten repetitions each.

The moves, when done consistently, will make a big difference in both how you are able to interact with your grandchildren and how you age. They represent the minimum of what active aging should look like. Bonus: other than the daily walking, all of these moves can be done anywhere. Even the kitchen.

Create a fitness routine and build from there

We can add to the above, but right now, as we begin, let’s just focus on getting into the routine of it all, doing things that will make a difference to our lives and allow us to fully enjoy our grandchildren. Instead of just watching them do fun things and praising them from where we stand, get in there with them and be part of the fun.

Begin slowly, adding new moves gradually in the days and weeks ahead. Otherwise, it can be overwhelming to implement all these new activities simultaneously which comes with the risk of giving up as we struggle to get into a new routine. First and foremost, it must be sustainable. When we start with a bit at a time we can build it into a routine and expand from there as we become familiar with how much time we need to insert these moves into our week. We can also identify areas of weakness that need more attention.

We aren’t just learning new moves here, we are learning about our body and its needs. We are all different and we aren’t all beginning in the same place. Take your time. This is not a short-term program. It’s for life. With consistent movement we will become stronger. We’ll enjoy better balance and experience more energy than we have had for years! We may even hurt less.

Eventually we may want to explore other activities or return to ones we enjoyed in the past. Not only will you have an easier time keeping up with your grandchildren, but your own life will be enriched! There is no downside.

I have a visual. It is pouring rain outdoors so you and your grandchildren have made a tent in your living room with sheets and blankets strung from one end to the other. You are on the floor crawling with ease into the small opening to have an indoor picnic together. The grandchildren think this is the greatest thing! Who could have imagined it?

This comes with a warning. Uncontrollable laughter and feelings of well-being are quite likely to occur as you keep up with your grandchildren, and I make no apology for that.

​Sheila is the force behind Grandma Moves, an Instagram account that encourages everyone to keep moving throughout their lives. Follow her for daily inspiration: @grandma_moves.