Exercising with all 4 kids

FIT4MOM Lakeland is a company I had heard about, but it wasn't until the owner of FIT4MOM Lakeland, Ginger Johnson had invited me to attend a Stroller Strides class with my quad stroller that I learned more.

My quad stroller weighs 61 pounds on it's own without adding my four, healthy children. I was not thrilled with the idea of pulling and pushing them throughout the hour long workout in addition to what other exercises Ginger was going to lead us through, but I am always up to try something at least once. And it is time to get this body back into shape, so I headed to my first ever Stroller Strides class.

The Stroller Strides class

I was a little late, but I jumped right into the exercises with the other ladies. My stroller wasn't able to do one of the ab activities because of the safety feature hand break on the quad stroller. Thankfully, Ginger knew exactly how to modify it for me so I was getting a great burn with the limitation of my equipment.

We alternated between a walk/jog/run, whatever you were most comfortable with and metabolic exercises using our own body weight as well as using tension bands, soup cans (or 3 pound weights), and a yoga mat. We would continue reps of a strength training movement Ginger had modeled until she gave us new instructions and then we would push the strollers to the next station to begin another exercise. This kept our heart rate up and the kids engaged as we moved around Lake Mirror for our group workout.

Christmas music and nursery rhymes filled the air from Ginger's portable speakers as we completed our workout. The music kept the mood lively as well as kept the kid's attention. As we performed the stationary activities, we would join together in song entertaining the kids with "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" and "Down on Grandpa's Farm." This engaged the kids as they all watched the moms getting fit.

My workout with Stroller Strides took place on Thanksgiving break, meaning schools were not in session. Ginger was very accommodating to some of her regular attenders who had school age children who needed to be at the Stroller Strides class. She thought first of the safety of all the women working out and gave modifications to the mothers with older children, like having the child lay down below the mom doing stair climbers to keep the child engaged and out of harms way.

My opinion of Stroller Strides

For me, it was an amazing workout! Pulling the 180 pound quad stroller and my four children up that hill backwards was no easy feat, but it was rewarding to have done it. Each of the strength training exercises were easy to complete and engaged all of the different muscles from the top of my body to the bottom. It was not too strenuous, but just enough challenge to still be that good kind of sore two days later. The best part of the workout was getting the encouragement and support from the regulars in the class. They would give advice or just a fun chat while we jogged to our next location.

I've struggled with maintaining a consistent workout schedule, but joining a class like Stroller Strides would provide the accountability I need. And the best part is the kids would be a part of the class! This is a great family-friendly activity for moms with young kids and that can be a very hard stage of motherhood to find time to take care of yourself. As Ginger said, "This takes away the excuses." You don't need childcare. All you have to do is sign-up and come. This is a class I would definitely take again and wish I had known about when my children were itty-bitty and I was working on burning off that pregnancy weight.

Check out my YouTube video about FIT4MOM Lakeland and see me workout with all four kids! Ginger also shares more about the other classes FIT4MOM Lakeland offers and a great deal for new people who sign-up. 



Want to join and take advantage of that Black Friday sale (Lakeland location only)? Head to their Facebook page for more details! And don't forget to tell them The Acting Mom sent you.

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