Stroller Strides: Exercising With Your Newborn

Exercise was never a social event for me but things changed once I became a stay-at-home mom. For one, I lost the desire to go running and by the time my husband got home where he could watch our baby it was already too dark, too cold, too whatever excuse I had that did not involve running. And second I experienced postpartum depression leaving me feeling pretty lonely and down. I knew I needed to get moving again and Stroller Strides offered a way to get both my baby and I out of the house where I got to exercise, she got to be outdoors, and we both got to be social with other moms and babies.

You never have to worry about getting a sitter or waiting for your partner to get home so you can get to the gym. The instructors do an amazing job at keeping all of the kids entertained with songs, bubbles, and toys so that moms can focus on fitness. I think that the kids are pretty content just by being outdoors alone that rarely any of them get fussy. There are babies as young as 2 months and as old as 3 years that attend. Basically, if your kid can sit in a stroller they are welcome to come.

You don’t need to have a super fancy jogging stroller either. Mine is a basic 4-wheel clunker and I am able to jog with it for the short distances needed. And don’t be fooled that it is an easy workout by any means. I equate it some of the bootcamp-style workouts I have done where you are left feeling tired, a little sore and like you got a very thorough workout. You can do everything at your own pace and there is 0 judgment because everybody is in the same boat.

As it turned out, the thing that I previously hated about hanging out after a workout, I started to like because you get to know other moms and your baby makes little friends. It’s a great way to grow your village while getting fit.

Lisa is a babywearing, breastfeeding, cloth-diapering mama that was able to work through postpartum depression with the help of exercise and other moms.