Being a new mother is hard enough without having to keep up with an exercise program.
But there’s that baby weight to lose, right?
Stroller Strides, a growing national fitness program, is working to make getting in shape easier by allowing mothers to bring babies in strollers to classes typically held at parks and shopping malls.
Camille Schwindt of Bothell first started taking Stroller Strides classes when her son, Lex, was 5 months old.
Right away, she met women going through the same struggles, not just in terms of fitness but also parenting.
“It was just amazing for me,” Schwindt said. “It’s like a support group. It’s an awesome, awesome social network for moms.”
Schwindt was so inspired she decided to take the program’s instructor training. She started her own franchise last fall and now offers classes at 9 a.m. five days a week at the Everett Mall, before the facility is open to shoppers.
“I wanted to be a part of it,” she said. “I wanted to be able to share with other moms all the great benefits.”
Schwindt, whose son just turned 1, offers a mix of cardiovascular and strength-training exercises. Mothers power walk through the mall together and stop at various stations to do strength-training exercises with resistance tubing.
Schwindt said her classes, which will move to an Everett park in the spring, are safe for new mothers as well as fitness buffs.
“We have to be very careful of our bodies after pregnancy and ease back into exercise,” she said. “We also have moms who have been exercising and their kids are 2.”
Though there isn’t a limit on the age of children who can attend the class, Schwindt recommends it to mothers with kids 5 and younger because children are expected to stay in their strollers for the hourlong workout.
Kelly Welk of Everett attends the Everett Mall class with her daughters, Bella, 2, and Maddie, 7 months, in a double stroller. She likes progressing from station to station around the mall.
“The class format is great because it keeps things moving, so the kiddos don’t get too restless,” Welk said. “Plus it’s teaching my girls the importance of being healthy.”
Every workout is different, Welk said, and her girls love the sing-alongs led by the mothers with tunes such as “The Wheels on the Bus.”
“That is the way that we all come together,” Schwindt said. “We circle the babies together in the strollers and interact with them as much possible.”
Welk started taking Stroller Strides classes after her first daughter was born. She had a goal of losing weight and running a marathon by her 30th birthday.
“I’m happy to say I’ve got all the baby weight off and I finished the half marathon faster than my goal time,” said Welk, who ran the Seattle Half Marathon in November, a week after she turned 30.
Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037, sjackson@heraldnet.com.
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