Marina's Story

Feedback

About the Founder

Hi I’m Marina, creator of Exercise Rhymes™, rhymes that make exercising fun. After my first daughter was born I had significant ‘baby weight’ to lose. My young daughter quickly became bored with her books, toys & snacks in the jogging stroller as I tried to get my exercise. I sought out ways to create playtime focused on fitness & fun. I found myself using her as a weight doing squats, lunges, crunches, and arm lifts and then began making up rhymes to go with the exercises. It was wonderful to include her in my exercise routine. She would soon begin mimicking my movements and we began to routinely play & exercise together in short bursts throughout the day.

Drawing on years of dance, yoga & fitness training, I created flashcards pairing fun rhymes & exercises for adults to do with young kids….and Exercise Rhymes was born. Family & friends with young children tested the prototype flashcard decks and provided me with invaluable feedback. My daughter and I also routinely did the exercises and even at 18 months, she quickly recognized the rhymes and started doing the exercises that went with them. She would fill in the rhyming words and loved to pretend being a frog, bunny, train, etc. while we exercised together. I was happy to shed the pregnancy pounds and we both had a lot of fun taking short breaks to exercise throughout the day at home and at the park. The exercises were even helpful in occupying her while waiting in line, and later she used the cards to practice reading. My other two children have enjoyed learning Exercise Rhymes as well and we regularly incorporate them into our playtime. I routinely volunteer in my children's classroom and the kids love doing Exercise Rhymes.

Finding the time to exercise is a challenge for everyone, especially with kids in tow. Including kids in the exercise routine is a simple solution that helps build lifelong, healthy habits for everyone. Commitment & consistency provide the long term benefits of health & vitality. A dedication to fitness is important, and showing our children that exercise is fun might be even more important!

info@exerciserhymes.com
480.619.0300

®

Marina McLennan founded Exercise Rhymes, LLC to help adults & kids have fun exercising & learning together. As an active health-conscious new mom with limited time to exercise alone, Marina created Exercise Rhymes™ as family playtime focused on fitness.

Marina studied dance (ballet, jazz & tap) for 15 years & yoga for 10 years.
She became an NASM Certified Personal Trainer & certified Mini Yogis® instructor, and she has experience teaching kids dance, movement, yoga & preschool. Marina also has a business degree and many years of project management & business consulting experience. Marina is a dedicated wife & mother of 3 kids.