Taking fitness for a stroll

Twenty mothers push baby-packed prams through the Pen Park parking lot, warming up for a serious aerobic workout and a little bit of socialization.
Welcome to Strollerfit, a local workout designed to get women out of the house and into shape with the help of their peers and progeny. The program’s three-prong approach includes exercise for moms, play time for the kids and socialization for everyone.

With a passel of parked strollers nearby and a boom box blasting out nonsensical children’s music, mothers chat and children play. Dozens of eyes watch over shoulders during conversations and no child’s movement goes unnoticed.
“It’s really hard for new moms to get exercise because they can’t just leave their babies, but it’s hard to
exercise with them,” said Catherine Crisler, after finishing a variety of stretches to warm down from the exercise. Crisler is the mother of 11-month-old twins Richard and Christiana, who ride in a doublewide, mom-powered stroller during class.

“It’s an energy lift. It gets you back in shape and it’s fun for everybody, including the children,” she says. “It’s the only thing I get to do, in terms of exercise.”
For Kira Sullivan, who runs the program, that’s good to hear.
“I like to know that it’s working,” she laughed. “I know it worked for me.”
Sullivan discovered Strollerfit when she was looking to get back into shape after giving birth to her son, Nate. A former personal fitness trainer and an education major in college, she had a difficult time finding a program that allowed her to include her son.
She started local classes in 2007 and has partnered with Martha Jefferson Hospital and local athletic club ACAC. The Pen Park classes run Monday through Thursday, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.

“I found out about it when a friend called and told me she thought I might be interested,” Sullivan recalled. “At that time in my life, my major passion was my son and the program answered those things that I felt strongly about: him, education and physical fitness.”
According to Strollerfit’s Web site, Mary Beth Knight, a former stand-up comic, over-eater and smoker, launched the program in 2005 after her pregnancy left her with 42 extra pounds.

Knight helped spin Strollerfit into a franchise that provides instructors such as Sullivan with workout routines and sells exercise equipment and specialized strollers for the program.
One difference between Strollerfit and other workouts is that it focuses on “mommy muscles,” those muscles that stretch during pregnancy, Sullivan says.
“It’s designed to help mothers where mothers need help and to provide a supportive environment,” she said. “For a lot of women, the idea of coming out to work out with a bunch of strangers when they’ve gained 20 or 40 pounds from a pregnancy is very difficult. They’re afraid they won’t fit in.”

Crisler hasn’t found that to be the case.
“I’ve really enjoyed it,” she said. “It’s good for everyone. You get time with your child while you do something good for you. You get time to talk with other adults and your kids get to be socialized around other children. It’s a workout and a play date.”