Six months out of the year, I look to outdoor playtime with my son as one way to get in additional exercise. Now that August is here, the season during which both his and my allergies are worst, we’re pretty much cooped up indoors praying for rain to wash the pollen out of the air.

It’s just not the same as getting outside to play. After all, you can’t climb silk trees and, although jumping on the sofa makes a nice substitute for a trampoline, even that gets boring after a while.

So we’ve been playing DDR quite a bit, along with Eye Toy. The latter has managed to help tone my arms quite a bit this past week, as a matter of fact. I’ve been strapping on wrist weights and doing the “Window Washing” routine: talk about an upper body workout!

The Eye Toy game that involves trying to “head” a soccer ball actually makes a great butt-blasting routine. Last time we played it, I wound up doing 72 squats in a little over 2 minutes. Sure, my thighs burned afterwards and I spent the rest of my day dragging my ass around like overstuffed luggage, but the time flew by faster than any I’ve spent with a workout DVD.

What do you do for indoor exercise when it’s too hot to get outside and play?

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