Movin’ Moms

A friend of mine
who is a new mother recently started her own franchise of Stroller Strides, a
nationwide fitness program designed for moms and their babies. As a fitness
instructor prior to giving birth, her new business is a natural extension of
her pre-baby life.

Her motivation to
get back in shape while inspiring other mothers to do the same made me curious
about the abundance of such programs. An internet search confirmed my
assumption that new mother training groups are wonderfully widespread.

Both Stroller
Strides and StrollerFit offer organized exercise for moms with babies in tow.
What could be better than working out while your baby rests safely in his or
her stroller, watching you work up a sweat and saving your valuable babysitting
dollars? Sport utility stroller manufacturer BOB even makes a Stroller Strides
branded baby vehicle, complete with fitness accessories. Baby Boot Camp is
another stroller-focused fitness program, offering exercises for women pre and
post-pregnancy.

Moms in Motion
provides a social networking site as home base for fitness oriented mothers.
Women can join a virtual team of like-minded moms, or expand into their real
community by joining – or even starting their own – local team focused on any
type of active pursuit. Healthy Moms Fitness strives to support women’s
physical and psychological health before, during and after pregnancy through a
variety of classes, training programs and educational resources.

While I do not have
children myself, I can imagine the challenge of balancing diapers and
sleep deprivation with the desire to regain and maintain personal fitness. I
applaud all the moms out there who embrace these, or similar programs, or who
simply make the extra effort to get out and get active on their own amidst the chaos of
caring for young children.