Since my third and last baby was 6 weeks old, I have been attending Stroller Strides classes. Now, this originally seemed like a really bad idea. First of all, it is exercise, and second of all, your kids are along, so basically you're adding insult to injury. Additionally, prior to my first class, I had not exercised in 4 years and 3 months (since getting pregnant with my oldest child) and the moms on the website pictures looked really fit. They appeared to be those mythological moms who did prenatal yoga and had to be forced by their ob/gyn's to stop running in their 9th month. I doubted they had subsisted on Entenmann's donuts and chocolate milk for the duration of their pregnancies (I also ate some fruit).
Unfortunately for me, when I gave birth to my last baby, I no longer had my rock solid excuse that if I was just going to get pregnant again, it was a waste of time to get into shape. (This was a pretty good excuse. It got me through close to half a decade of minimal physical exertion.) So I looked into all the options for working out. The first option was going to the gym. I hated this at the best of times, even though I did it for about ten years of my life every day, armed with an mp3 player, two books in case I finished one, and the TV directly in front of my elliptical, none of which were sufficient to distract me from the tedium of that machine. In addition to hating the gym, I also now had a baby who loved to cuddle (read: screamed when I put him down) and didn't take bottles, so the gym daycare was not an option for him. I tried a few walks around my neighborhood with the stroller, but they swiftly degenerated into slow ambles that ended at the coffee shop where I would purchase a black and white cookie and a latte, thus eating back five (really, 25) times the 30 calories I had burned off. It was time for a workout option with some more accountability.
I came to my first Stroller Strides class with a Moby Wrap on the off chance I would need it. ("Humorous" side note: I ended up using it for the first five months I was there.) I thought wearing the wrap would be no biggie because we would just be walking around the track at the Navy Stadium. I was quite wrong about that. Stroller Strides is not a walking group, but instead involves walking or running between various stations where you do cardio and strength training, and some of the exercises incorporate a stretchy band. So we are talking pushups, jumping jacks, bicep curls, squats, and so forth. Additionally, you sing songs and do fingerplays for your babies and toddlers so they stay involved. So, I was doing hardcore exercise for the first time in over 4 years not only while pushing a jogging stroller but also holding a baby in a Moby Wrap and having to sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider at the same time. Suffice it to say, the first class was extremely difficult (read: I felt as though I was on the verge of death and was concerned about who would care for the baby in the event that I collapsed).
However, everyone at Stroller Strides was so friendly and the instructors were so motivating that I continued to return to classes despite feeling that I was the least fit person there. I was certain I would never be able to hold the 60 second plank that we did at the end of every class. However, I got increasingly stronger and felt much better about my post-baby fitness level than even my pre-first-baby forcing-myself-into-the-gym fitness level. I started to enjoy exercise for the first time in my life, and even enjoyed the little competitions in class (eg. which group could finish an exercise series quickest) despite my competition-related PTSD from being the least athletic child in summer camp. Sometimes I even won a Luna bar for winning a competition, which was the first time I ever won a prize for anything remotely athletic (you'll be shocked to know I was more of the spelling bee type).
I thought I would stop classes after my maternity leave was up, but I had become hooked. My toddler had started joining me along with my baby, in the double stroller. By that point, I could do a 60 second plank while baby was wrapped in the Moby. (Yes, his head was supported.) I was hanging out with some of the women after class. I was enjoying my days with my baby and toddler more, having a set structure for the mornings I didn't work: go to class, then playdate with other Stroller Strides kids, and then lunch or errands before preschool pickup. It certainly beat the structure for my older children's babyhoods, which involved a psychotic adherence to nap schedules, and compulsive reality TV viewing or lackadaisical housework during said naps.
I have made many close friends through Stroller Strides and they are an extremely supportive and warm group of women. They are proactive people who like to multi-task: work out, spend time with their kids, and socialize with other adults all at once. Multi-taskers are my kindred spirits. Recently, Stroller Strides even offered a running group, where I, previously a devout anti-runner, learned to actually enjoy running. I have run two 5K's since then. My baby loves Stroller Strides, particularly the ab workout at the end where he gets to crawl around over everyone's yoga mats and flirt with the moms. (You heard it here first if he has a cougar thing in later life.) And my toddler shouts, "Yay, Stroller Strides!" when we drive there on Saturdays. Both my toddler and preschooler, who sometimes has joined in the double if my toddler is with Daddy, play "Stroller Strides" and run around doing pushups and crunches. They think exercise is fun, and this is really amazing for me, the ex-unathletic child, to witness.
So, fellow moms, if you are looking for a supportive, friendly, encouraging atmosphere in which to work out, surrounded by other moms and their babies, I can think of no better way to go than Stroller Strides. Thanks to Karen Davis and Erin Brady for being such encouraging instructors and making it such a great experience.
Note: I was not paid for this endorsement, but I do think I should get an extra Luna bar.
Unfortunately for me, when I gave birth to my last baby, I no longer had my rock solid excuse that if I was just going to get pregnant again, it was a waste of time to get into shape. (This was a pretty good excuse. It got me through close to half a decade of minimal physical exertion.) So I looked into all the options for working out. The first option was going to the gym. I hated this at the best of times, even though I did it for about ten years of my life every day, armed with an mp3 player, two books in case I finished one, and the TV directly in front of my elliptical, none of which were sufficient to distract me from the tedium of that machine. In addition to hating the gym, I also now had a baby who loved to cuddle (read: screamed when I put him down) and didn't take bottles, so the gym daycare was not an option for him. I tried a few walks around my neighborhood with the stroller, but they swiftly degenerated into slow ambles that ended at the coffee shop where I would purchase a black and white cookie and a latte, thus eating back five (really, 25) times the 30 calories I had burned off. It was time for a workout option with some more accountability.
I came to my first Stroller Strides class with a Moby Wrap on the off chance I would need it. ("Humorous" side note: I ended up using it for the first five months I was there.) I thought wearing the wrap would be no biggie because we would just be walking around the track at the Navy Stadium. I was quite wrong about that. Stroller Strides is not a walking group, but instead involves walking or running between various stations where you do cardio and strength training, and some of the exercises incorporate a stretchy band. So we are talking pushups, jumping jacks, bicep curls, squats, and so forth. Additionally, you sing songs and do fingerplays for your babies and toddlers so they stay involved. So, I was doing hardcore exercise for the first time in over 4 years not only while pushing a jogging stroller but also holding a baby in a Moby Wrap and having to sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider at the same time. Suffice it to say, the first class was extremely difficult (read: I felt as though I was on the verge of death and was concerned about who would care for the baby in the event that I collapsed).
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| Note Moby |
I thought I would stop classes after my maternity leave was up, but I had become hooked. My toddler had started joining me along with my baby, in the double stroller. By that point, I could do a 60 second plank while baby was wrapped in the Moby. (Yes, his head was supported.) I was hanging out with some of the women after class. I was enjoying my days with my baby and toddler more, having a set structure for the mornings I didn't work: go to class, then playdate with other Stroller Strides kids, and then lunch or errands before preschool pickup. It certainly beat the structure for my older children's babyhoods, which involved a psychotic adherence to nap schedules, and compulsive reality TV viewing or lackadaisical housework during said naps.
I have made many close friends through Stroller Strides and they are an extremely supportive and warm group of women. They are proactive people who like to multi-task: work out, spend time with their kids, and socialize with other adults all at once. Multi-taskers are my kindred spirits. Recently, Stroller Strides even offered a running group, where I, previously a devout anti-runner, learned to actually enjoy running. I have run two 5K's since then. My baby loves Stroller Strides, particularly the ab workout at the end where he gets to crawl around over everyone's yoga mats and flirt with the moms. (You heard it here first if he has a cougar thing in later life.) And my toddler shouts, "Yay, Stroller Strides!" when we drive there on Saturdays. Both my toddler and preschooler, who sometimes has joined in the double if my toddler is with Daddy, play "Stroller Strides" and run around doing pushups and crunches. They think exercise is fun, and this is really amazing for me, the ex-unathletic child, to witness.
So, fellow moms, if you are looking for a supportive, friendly, encouraging atmosphere in which to work out, surrounded by other moms and their babies, I can think of no better way to go than Stroller Strides. Thanks to Karen Davis and Erin Brady for being such encouraging instructors and making it such a great experience.
Note: I was not paid for this endorsement, but I do think I should get an extra Luna bar.
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