Get Fit with 6: Special exercise program allows mothers to bring their children to class

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - Jody Springer started a program called Stroller Strides in Wilmington fifteen years ago. The name has changed to Fit4mom but the mission is the same.

“I think as moms we can all agree that when you’re home with a new baby it’s very isolating and lonely and finding a way to connect with moms can sometimes be challenging and a little intimidating. So really our goal at Fit4mom is to welcome every mom no matter what age or stage of motherhood you’re in and find a place for you to connect with other women and other moms and out kids and still spend time with them,” Jody Springer, Owner Fit4mom.

There are nine different fitness and wellness programs from pre-natal to stroller classes and beyond. The Stroller Strides class meets at Long Leaf Park. Leslie Williams started coming to class when her daughter Abigail was just eight weeks old, she’s now a year and a half.

“You can come in and work out obviously but you can met other moms that are going thru the same things that you have gone thru previously or at the same time and get some advice or just share some little antecdotes of what happened in your morning,” Leslie Williams, Fit4mom participant.

Williams loves the class because both she and her daughter get a lot out of the experience. “We’ve mad new friends that have led to other things like going to kinder music and there are a bunch of different kids that are her age and she gets to see them, younger too when new kids come in and she likes the babies that come in,” said Williams.

For the classes at Long Leaf Park, participants push strollers to different ares in the park then stop and do exercises. One routine takes place at the basketball court. The moms park the strollers, wave by to their kids and run backwards or do side steps to the other side of the court then runs back to their children. During another workout in the class the kids pick an animal for the moms to sing fun nursery rhymes.

Williams really likes being able to sing with Abigail. We have a special song for stretching at the end and now that she’s older she likes to sing with us so that’s the best part,” said Williams.

You can work out at your own pace, if you need to attend to your child you can, if you’ve never worked out before and are worried about starting it doesn’t matter. Everyone is welcome.

“We’re here to support each other, encourage each other, empower each other, and we all get it we don’t care if you’re coming in with the coffee in your hand and baby spit up on your shirt and your socks don’t match it’s like it really doesn’t matter we’re all moms and we get it,” said Springer. “We’re setting an example for our children that exercise is fun, it’s something we can do with our friends and be outside.”

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