Five reasons you *need* to hopscotch.

I know.

Im gonna stop a moment & gaze lovingly at the photo above as well she types pridefully pretending the whole ‘net cares as much about her life minutia as does she.

More than mama-love the photo symbolizes to me the lost art of exercise as FUN.

Necklace in hand.

Hair flying.

Chortles of joy you’ll just have to imagine.

The photo for me captures precisely why, as often as I can, I make my workouts into PLAYouts with my daughter.

That said, Im a selfish misfit (**cue gasps of surprise**).

It can’t always be about the Child and much of my motivation to exercise in general is to keep my body fit & strong so Im around to see her grow-up.

Yes we play.

Yes it’s vigorous & sweat-inducing.

And YES there are always myriad benefits for the Mama in these laughing, afternoon-killing, play’ventures.

I give you Five reasons –mama or not–you should incorporate hopscotch into your workout routine.

It is an amazing over-all workout you can do in your street clothes. Legend has it hopscotch was invented as a training exercise for Roman soldiers. The course used was 100+ feet long and the soldiers were compelled to ‘play’ in full armor.  True? Who knows.  You can, however, be clad in jeans & a winter jacket and still improve your fitness, endurance, & footwork.It’s indoor/outdoor fun! This time of year in Texas we grab our chalk & head outdoors.  Live in a colder climate? Use our *summer* approach: grab some masking tape & make a hopscotch grid on the carpet.
It can count as cardio! Studies show hopscotch improves running economy & distance running performance. Does this misfit care? Not really.  All I know is when we play rounds of Quick! Go as fast as you can!!! I grow winded and am confident Im burning calories/working my heart.It works on balance, stability, core & reaction time. Not only are these four areas we all need to focus upon for over-all health—they are areas (especially the last one) we can easily neglect when in a workout-rut.  My hopsotch-playouts are more comprehensive in these areas than my ‘traditional’ gym workouts ever were.It targets our gross/fine motor skills and coordination. Sure this may seem more beneficial for the little ones in our lives, but the older we get (*raises hand*) the more we need to make time to KEEP the coordination & motor skills we’ve acquired along the living-way.

That’s it, People.

All you need to know & nary a word more so you’ve time leftover to get to the ‘scotching.

(forgotten how to play? remind yourself here.)

Alone?

With kids?

Indoors?

Outdoors?

No matter—just get to hopping.

This post is brought to you by the fit-minded Peeps at Sears Fit Club who, if rumors are correct, favor the indoor, masking-tape on carpet variety of hopscotch.

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