“The struggle was keeping them entertained long enough in by yourself,” said Jennifer Schmitt.
Finding time to workout as a mother can be a challenge.
Fit4Mom Grand Traverse is working to combine the two.
“A fitness company just for moms. so we honor whatever stage of motherhood you’re in from out of the stroller and beyond, but all stages of motherhood,” said owner of Fit4Mom Grand Traverse, Jessica Cavender.
“It’s a great opportunity to bring your kids with you, so you don’t have to find a sitter, but you still get to get that workout in, get your mom time, as well as entertaining your kid at the same time,” said Schmitt.
The class alternates between strength training and cardio.
“A lot of time we like to have mamas do rowing exercises, strengthening their back, a lot of motherhood brings our moms forward because life is in front of us our children and housework,” said Cavender.
Sprinkling in a cardio exercise they are pretty familiar with.
“We always want to practice our posture when we are walking so we are always connecting with our core, drawing our bellybuttons in the right place,” she said.
The babies aren’t stuck in the stroller the whole class.
“We want to deepen the connection with mom and baby,” she said.
Sometimes the babies even get a little stretch too, or they’re entertained while mom sings a tune.
“It is a great judge of our perceived rate of exertion, if the mommas can’t sing a full line of music we ask them to take it down a level, maybe slow down the exercise and modify an exercise, we don’t want you totally wear you out for motherhood, we want you to give you more strength for motherhood,” said Cavender.
Ending with affirmations, and saying bye to each baby by their name.
Jessica hopes she can offer the same support for other moms that Fit4Mom gave her.
“I found stroller strides when I needed a village, I needed to give myself some time for me to re-connect with myself, I needed a village, and a group of moms I could connect with,” she said.
It’s helped Jennifer get through baby number one, and continues to help her through baby number two due in February.
“Feels like you’re supported, you’re not the only one that’s maybe struggling with something,” said Schmitt.
“It’s really important to me these ladies feel like they have a place to go, just feel themselves, feel okay in their skin and take care of themselves,” said Cavender.
For more information, click .
© 2023 - 910 Media Group
