[erincairns]

Urban Athlete

Flexing Mom Muscles

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

The stroller set works at getting in shape during a Strollercize class at Central Park.
By SHIVANI VORA

Published: July 15, 2010

BESIDES a night of uninterrupted sleep, there’s nothing new mothers crave more than getting back into prebaby shape. In New York they can get a little help with that by taking one of several exercise classes created just for them. Besides addressing the needs of women who’ve recently given birth by strengthening the abdomen, toning the arms and trimming the hips, most of these workout options allow baby along too.


Strollercize, for example, is an hourlong boot-camp-style class, held several times a week in Central, Riverside and Carl Schurz Parks, that incorporates strollers and the babies in them. Elizabeth Trindade, a personal trainer turned dancer, said the idea for her company was born in 1990, soon after her daughter’s birth.“


I had wide hips and flabby arms and I was miserable,” recalled Ms. Trindade, now 52 and the mother of three. “Since I didn’t have child care and was desperate to get fit again, I found a way to use my stroller to get a workout that had me sweating.”



She leads her students through moves like front and side kicks, which use stroller handles for stability, and a walking lunge sequence that requires pushing the stroller for extra resistance. Women even use their babies as weights when doing dead lifts.


Lancey Gandy, 32, of the Upper East Side, decided to try the classes in April after traditional gym sessions weren’t helping her lose the weight she gained while pregnant with her son, who’s now 7 months old. She said she had lost 10 pounds from her five-day-a-week sessions. “I feel confident enough to wear a bikini this summer,” she added.



Another high-energy choice is postnatal Hoopnotica Hoopdance, which fuses hula hoops with belly dancing. The outdoor class, held on an East Side plaza, is offered through Fitnotic, a fitness company that specializes in pre- and postnatal exercise. Though the company’s founder, Sheryl Wilson, also offers postnatal yoga and boot camps, the hoop class has a much greater fun factor.



Students use a weighted hoop for a fat-burning workout set to reggae, hip-hop and pop music, engaging the abdominals in almost every move. Hooping around the waist, thighs, chest and shoulders works those specific areas, but the core also needs to work to keep the hoop from dropping. Newborns are welcome, as are older children — Ms. Wilson brings child-size hoops for little ones who want to follow along.



For a calmer way to regain your prepregnancy shape, the Prenatal Yoga Center holds 90-minute postnatal classes on the Upper West Side. The twice-weekly sessions not only help moms tone their core through moves like face-down and side planks (on forearms, whether in a push-up position or on your side) but also combat postbirth physical problems: Kegel exercises strengthen weak pelvic muscles, for instance, while chest openers like the standing bow pose (leaning forward as one quad is stretched up in the air behind you) address hunched backs and shoulders as a result of nursing and bending over.



Taking one of these classes is not just about the workout. Fellow participants can become a support group where mothers can swap stories about nursing, postpartum blues and other challenges of early parenthood.
Rebecca Stein, 32, a stay-at-home mom from Riverdale, in the Bronx, has taken postnatal yoga classes at the Prenatal Yoga Center after the births of two children and plans to attend again after she delivers her third child in September. Besides helping her lose weight, she said, the sessions have a positive emotional effect: “There’s a real sense of camaraderie among the women.”



IF YOU GO
Times and other details are on the Web sites.
STROLLERCIZE Multiple locations; (800) 978-7655, Strollercize® Preparing Parents to Push, Stroller Workouts, Prenatal, Postnatal, Fitness, Certification; average cost, $15 each session.



HOOPNOTICA HOOPDANCE Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 47th Street, between First and Second Avenues, Manhattan; Fitnotic; $20.



PRENATAL YOGA CENTER Postnatal yoga classes, 251 West 72nd Street, Suite 2F, Manhattan; (212) 362-2985, - Prenatal Yoga Center; $24.
There are also:


MOVIN’ MAMAS Blends Pilates, prop and stroller work. Central Park; (917) 951-5004,
Welcome! | Movin' Mamas. Packages
start at $108 for three classes.



NEW MOM, NEW BOOTY, NO KIDS 45-minute group training sessions with the personal trainer Annette Lang; no babies allowed. Groups limited to six. Twice a week, Aug. 9-25; Central Park; Annette Lang Education Systems, (646) 284-7749; $249.

[hannahthompson]

Last year, I became a mom after 40, and I’ve discovered that there is a large potential for injury from starting to mommy later in life.
ffice:smarttags" name="place">There are many opportunities to strain, pull, and get out of alignment with holding, carrying and putting our little dears in car seats.

After realizing the full potential for bodily damage (mine not his), I decided to try and proactively PREVENT getting injured. So I asked at my gym for the right type of personal trainer to help me with these goals. She’s been wonderful. Although I asked Sarah for exercises to help me “get strong” in my arms and stay ahead of my son’s increasing weight, she redirected me and gave me strengthening exercises that multitask by strengthening my arms, core muscles (back and stomach), and gluts at the same time. >>

I asked my trainer to only teach me 2-3 exercises because I have limited capacity for remembering these things and didn’t want to feel burdened by having to spend too much time strength training at any one session, given I’d want to do it about 2-3 times per week.