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Staying fit through summer...

by Skylar Hill-Jackson
published in MomNet News Link, 2003.

There are a variety of fitness, yoga, aqua fit and pilates classes available for pregnant women and new moms and babies in the Toronto area if they want to stay healthy and fit during the summer months.

Joining a specially designed fitness program helps pregnant women and new moms with babies get into shape, forge bonds, maintain support systems and develop long-lasting personal connections. “My prenatal, and afterwards my postpartum fitness classes were my life-line,” says one mom.

A pregnant woman joins a specialized fitness class because it feels good to move her body safely throughout pregnancy (keeping aches and pains at bay), and prepares the body for the challenges of labour and recovery.

A new mother joins a postpartum fitness class with a number of goals in mind: a return to pre-pregnancy weight, a rapid improvement in abdominal tone, an improved body image and increased endurance, strength and flexibility.

Prenatal and postpartum fitness classes provide all this and more. Classes end with a discussion on a variety of parenting issues which provides an environment conducive to networking and building confidence in parenting skills. The discussion component allows women the opportunity to communicate with others sharing a similar situation.

Different bodies need different types of exercise and Toronto pregnant women and new moms are lucky to have such a variety of fitness choices. There are fitness classes to suit everyone.

Both pregnant women and new mothers are usually interested in toning the abdominals, strengthening the back, and stretching, all exercises that increase physical comfort and are found in yoga bellies & babies, pilates bellies and pilates momfit classes. For women who desire these elements and an aerobic component too, aqua bellies & babies, fit bellies and babies, and strollerfit programs are recommended.

Motherhood is an intense mind-body experience and women feel the need to open up and connect their mind, heart and body. Through yoga and pilates, and other forms of activity that include breathing, postures and various forms of relaxation, the mind is used to calm the body and vice versa.

Every pregnant woman and new mother should have access to programs that will help her cope with the challenges of the childbearing period. There are programs offered through Parks and Recreation, YM/YWCA, community centres, yoga studios, fitness clubs and independent pre/postnatal fitness and education groups like BABY & ME FITNESS.

It is recommended that women take two classes a week during pregnancy and two classes a week for ‘with your baby’ programs to achieve maximum fitness, health and wellness benefits. Cross-training is encouraged so pregnant women and new mothers ‘balance’ their bodies by mixing and matching various classes e.g. yoga and aquafit, or pilates and strollerfit, or yoga and strollerfit, or pilates and aquafit. Commitment to a regular weekly fitness routine over a period of 10 or 20 weeks is beneficial.

Back for the eighth year and more popular than ever Strollerfit is one of the most fun spring/summer/fall fitness programs for moms and babies! BABY & ME FITNESS began the trend in 1996 and now there are several stroller programs.

Here are three BABY & ME FITNESS Strollerfit exercises you can do while cruising neighbourhood streets or shopping on the main drag:

1. Tight Butt Walk: tighten upper thighs and butt, pushing your stroller walk briskly for one block, using heel to toe steps (remember to bend your knees).

2. Heel lifts: while waiting to cross streets hold on to your stroller, feet together, lift heels up slowly and lower slowly. Repeat 8 times. On the eighth repetition, squeeze your legs together, contract your butt, abs tight, and hold the lift for 10 seconds.

3. Shoulder lifts: while pushing your stroller lift your shoulders to your ears and then lower. Repeat 8 times.

These effective exercises are so subtle no one will even notice you’re exercising! Elizabeth Noble, in her well-respected book Essential Exercises for the Childbearing Years, writes that childbearing women “can establish a lasting pattern in which exercise maintains optimum muscle strength and length, relieves nervous tension, enhances the benefits of good nutrition, and thus becomes an essential component of healthy living.”