Fit4Mom: Exercise or Mom Therapy? Maybe Both!

This post is in partnership with Fit4Mom.

I feel I should start with a confession: When I agreed to write about Fit4Mom, a fitness program designed for prenatal and postnatal moms, I was kind of a skeptic. As a mom of three, I already have a deep network of local mom friends, and as a fitness instructor myself, I have plenty of opportunities to exercise.

So while I’m always game to try a new workout class, I didn’t really think it would give me something I was lacking.

No need to prolong the suspense: I was wrong! Very wrong.

My youngest daughter, age one, and I showed up at Burgess Park on a recent weekday morning to sample Stroller Strides—sort of the bread and butter of Fit4Mom classes. For the next hour, she watched with increasing amusement as I jogged, lunged, squatted and resistance-banded my way into a not-at-all-cute state of sweatiness, along with about a dozen other moms. All the while, our instructor Michele Lewis, co-owner of Fit4Mom San Francisco Peninsula, offered the perfect blend of encouragement, humor and tough love to ensure a safe and also very effective workout. Bonus: she will jiggle fussy newborns, make silly faces at grumpy toddlers and sing children’s songs with enthusiasm to keep the little ones from rioting before final cool-down.

I was happy to get a great workout without having to figure out childcare, but I was also surprised how much of a difference it made to do a class filled with moms of stroller-age kids. Our group ranged from first-timers with 6-week-olds in tow, to veterans whose 2-year-olds snacked on goldfish crackers as they watched us huff and puff. There was a real atmosphere of solidarity, zero judgment, and a lot of laughing.

Effective

Vanessa R., a San Carlos-based mom of two young boys, has been attending Fit4Mom classes daily around the Peninsula since her youngest was 7 weeks old (he just turned 6 months). A former Division 1 college athlete, she told me she shared my skepticism about the intensity of the program until she gave it a try. “I’m shocked how fit these classes have made me—which seems silly because they are obviously a workout class,” she said. “But getting fit—for real fit—with a baby and toddler in tow somehow happened. It’s been surprising that it’s not just possible, but easy/fun/hilarious with this pack of women.”

Convenient

Fellow San Carlos mom Katie H. recently had her first baby and said she found the idea of making it to more than one class a week pretty daunting. “But the convenience of the location and schedule, coupled with the amazing support and understanding of the instructors to help if my little one was having a tough morning, made me able to go to four classes each week,” she shared. “I totally shocked myself!”

Supportive

The support network of moms was another pleasant surprise, Katie said. “Everyone also told me that groups like this would be where I could meet all my lifetime mommy friends. I skeptically thought that sounded a bit too Hallmark for me, but I have to say, I have met some amazing mamas! In fact, I sometimes feel like the naughty kid in class because I often find myself having so much fun chatting to my fellow mommy mates that I miss the exercise direction!”

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Fit4Mom San Francisco Peninsula has classes seven days a week all over the area, including prenatal classes, mom-and-child classes, and workouts for moms only. They also offer a 42-week online course, MamaWell, providing whole-body guidance throughout the transition to motherhood.

Your first class in the program is always free, so there’s really no excuse not to check it out. I know I’ll be back, complete with total attitude adjustment.

Fit4Mom Class Schedule