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Written by Kathryn McMackin
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Friday, 23 October 2009 15:12 |
It is well known that moms are among the busiest people, but that doesn’t mean that time can’t be made for health and fitness. With exercise classes that include mommy and baby, some Calgary mothers have found a way to get fit without hiring a sitter.
Andrea Stewart, mother of Kaedyn, 4, and Ryder, 1, swears by Stroller Fit, the mommy-and-me fitness class she enrolled in after the births of each of her children.
Jen Bogden and her son Owen perform push-ups during Kim Magotiaux's Baby Bootcamp class at the Montgomery Community Center.
Photo: Kathryn McMackin/Calgary Journal
Offered at venues such as the Southland Leisure Center, Sir Winston Churchill Aquatic and Recreation Center and the Montgomery Community Center, the classes promise to help moms fit back into their pre-baby jeans with a vigorous workout of squats, lunges, push-ups and cardio intervals.
“The instructor would toss exercise bands, medicine balls or light weights into the bottom of our strollers, then off we’d go,” Stewart said. “We’d sprint up hills, then stop and do ab work, push-ups and planks. Some of the mothers would only last a few sessions.”
Stewart said the noticeable results are only part of the reason that she keeps returning to Stroller Fit. With two young boys, she said it’s not always easy for her to get out of the house.
“I’m expected to be there,” she said, referring to her fitness class, adding “once I’ve committed myself to something, I won’t flake out.
“It’s nice to be held accountable, especially when it feels so good to be moving.”
Fitness trainer Kim Magotiaux, who teaches classes at a variety of venues in Calgary, said, “It gives the moms a routine. Plus they get the added motivation of having professional help. They get a full body workout and they get told how to do it properly.”
Magotiaux is a certified personal trainer and the founder of Bellies, Babies & Beyond, a fitness company that focuses on women in the pre- and post-natal stages. She said that although the main reason mothers come to the classes is to regain their pre-baby figure, they also come to get to know other moms.
“They can relate to each other, creating a kind of support system,” she said.
Sue Goulden, the recreation specialist at Sir Winston Churchill Aquatic and Recreation Center, considers the fitness class to be “
Tracy Cammaert and her daughter Rylee workout together during Kim Magotiaux's Baby Bootcamp class at the Montgomery Community Center.
Photo: Kathryn McMackin/Calgary Journal
Magotiaux, mother of two, tries to keep the class sizes small and spreads mats out in the centre of the room to create the atmosphere of a play date.
She said: “The moms get to work out and the kids are given a chance to interact.
“When they get a little more mobile, they begin crawling around with each other and check out each other’s toys.
There are two and three-year-olds that come to the class and run around doing squats and lunges with us, and the moms are always nearby to make sure nothing happens.”
For more information about Stroller Fit classes, click here. |
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