By Peggy O'Farrell
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Heidi Meegan has a new fitness accessory when she does crunches these days: Daughter Lucy, 2 1/2 months old.
Lucy lies calmly on her mom's stomach as Meegan works through several crunches.
Meegan is one of a dozen or so moms - and one lone dad, her husband, John - counting to 10 in French and singing the ABCs to tots and toddlers as they squat, crunch, lunge and jog around the basketball court at Kids First Sports Center in Sharonville.
Instructor Laurie Flanagan leads the pack, reminding them to breathe, lift their knees and watch their heart rates in between choruses of "Itsy Bitsy Spider."
Welcome to StrollerFit: You might call it Gymboree for grownups, but fans of the national phenomenon call it a chance for busy moms (and dads) to get in a workout and bond with their little ones. StrollerFit is a national company, with three area franchises. It's popular enough that Flanagan has had to add weekend and evening sessions to keep up with demand.
"It gets you back into shape, and as a stay-at-home mom, it's an extremely good outlet," Heidi Meegan says.
A weight-bearing workout
The Meegans, who live in Indian Hill, have two kids under 2: Lucy and her big sister, Sophie, 18 months.
|
BABY BENEFITS
|
|
Dr. Kathy Burklow, a clinical psychologist at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, says stroller fitness classes have all kinds of benefits for little ones.
Mental and physical stimulation in experiencing new activities and environments.
The security of an established routine in going to class.
Learning to make physical fitness a fun priority. "As we continue to become more overweight in our society, physical activity is going to become more important," Burklow says. "If you see your parents doing it, you're going to try it, and you're going to develop the idea that it's not drudgery. It's fun."
Visit Web site to find a StrollerFit class near you. |
Meegan started coming to StrollerFit after Sophie was born. The class is a boon, she and other moms say, because they can bring their babies with them, rather than relying on a sitter or looking for a health club with a baby-sitting service.
"You really don't have any other time to exercise," Meegan says.
The class offers a challenging workout: Participants run, power walk, skip and jump while pushing baby-packed strollers. Toward the end of the class, the little ones are sprung from their strollers to play while moms and dads do mat work: Crunches, push-ups, stretches and other calisthenics.
Any mom can tell you pushing a stroller is a pretty good form of weight-bearing exercise. Power walk or run while you're doing it and you've got yourself a workout.
Angela Leonhardt uses a double stroller for her two little ones, 1-year-old Maria and 3-year-old Benjamin.
"He weighs a little over 30 pounds and she weighs probably 22 pounds, so that's an extra 50-plus pounds to push," says Leonhardt, 34, of Hamilton.
Her husband, Todd, joins the class on Saturdays. "Then it's his turn to push them around," she says.
Happy rides
Flanagan, the instructor and owner of the northeast Cincinnati StrollerFit franchise that offers the class at Kids First, brings her own baby, 10-month-old Erin, to every class.
"She loves it," Flanagan says.
There are two other StrollerFit franchises in the Cincinnati area, she says.
Carol Rogers, 45, of West Chester Township, used to go to a spinning class or bike outdoors four or five times a week.
Then Zachary, now 17 months old, came along.
Rogers uses a special three-wheeled jog stroller that makes sure the road doesn't get too rough for Zachary as they run.
"He's in a Cadillac, a luxury ride," she says.
The babies all seem perfectly happy during the class. One little boy of about 2 ate Cheerios as his mother sprinted down the court with him in his stroller.
Babies learn something, too
Moms say their babies benefit just as much from the class as they do.
Zachary Rogers already knows five letters of the alphabet, Rogers says proudly.
And Benjamin Leonhardt sings all the songs and mimics many of the fitness moves he sees his mother doing in class, Angela Leonhardt says.
"He learns the songs and the counting and the ABCs and does them at home," she says. Benjamin even picks up the resistance tubing - the stretchy plastic bands that help build muscles - when he's home. It's all good, his mother says.
"Before I had kids I didn't exercise much, so they're starting off on the right foot. Hopefully, they'll be better about exercise than I've been."
E-mail pofarrell@enquirer.com
