The 10 secrets of StrollerFit

1. It's been documented in several articles and studies. When you push a stroller, you are burning more calories than walking alone. Us moms are always looking for a way to multi task and StrollerFit does this.

One article claims walking at a brisk pace can burn 100 calories, a brisk walk with a stroller bumps that up to 180 calories! Not only will you be able to squeeze in that exercise, but you'll also be more efficient while doing it. ediets Diet & Fitness blog

2. Walking with a stroller is not the only secret weapon of StrollerFit. Many of our exercises use resistance bands and tubes. The principle behind these is strengthening the muscle on the lengthening phase, much like pilates. This creates long, lean sexy muscles.

3. The weighted mommymuscle bar combines strength and resistance into one exercise. Using the muscle in both directions, increasing muscle strength. Muscle burns more calories than fat..so more muscle is good.

4. Your body burns calories while you are doing a cardiovascular exercise, like a brisk stroller walk. Do a StrollerFit class adding resistance training to that cardio and you'll keep burning calories for up to 48 hours after you're done.

5. No one has ever asked me why we sing in StrollerFit, or why I'm always encouraging moms to sing louder. Seems obvious right? Nice loud singing entertains our kiddos, what baby doesn't enjoy Ring around the Rosy, or what toddler doesn't like picking the farm animal for Old McDonald? True, but there is a bonus reason. When you sing, your uptake of oxygen increases. Making the effort of singing while exercising even more challenging AND building cardiovascular fitness. AHHH HAAA!

6. Adding imbalance to our exercises with the mommymuscle ball, or by doing them on one foot engages the core muscles, improves the proprioception sense and challenges the body even more. Balance is also a sense that will decrease overtime if we don't continue to challenge it. Weight bearing, gravity based activities increase our sense of balance and keep it from diminishing as we age.

7. Combining weight, resistance and imbalance really bumps up the calorie burn and effectiveness of the workout as a whole. Making the most of the short time moms have to exercise each day.

8. Above all, I believe the greatest part of the mommymuscle theory used in StrollerFit is that it allows a new mom who is also new to exercise to work at her own level, while working out right next to a mom who has exercised her whole life and is also being challenged. Now that is an all levels class.

9. The social advantages of working out with other moms are obvious. We love being in the company of others who understand we may need to stop to explain to our toddler why she can't hit her sister, or stop to nurse a baby who woke up late and is off schedule. It's also just fun to be around other moms in general.

10. Last but not least, I bribe the kids. Stickers, fun songs, tickling feet...it's all to get them to ask you "mom, are we going to StrollerFit today?" No not really, I just adore kiddos, but it's an advantage for sure.

So, the secrets have now been revealed. You now know why you were able to go from 34 squats to 48 in an 8 week time period, why your pants fit and why you're now able to unload the dishwasher while balancing your toddler on your hip without falling over.

See YOU in class mamas!

The warm up is not optional

The length of your warm-up determines how thick the synovial fluid is that acts as a shock absorber for your joints.

How long do I warm up? 3-5 minutes should do it for most of us. Pregnant women need to warm up for a longer period of time because they produce less synovial fluid. If you are expecting, shoot for the full 5 minutes. Skipping your warm up can not only put you at greater risk for injury, but also make your workout less effective.

An effective warm up can be as simple as a march in place, or brisk walk. A full aerobic warm up is great if you're preparing for a cardio and strength workout such as StrollerFit. Runners and walkers will benefit from moving joints and reminding them of their full range of motion. High knees marching, swinging straight legs forward and back, doing quick calf raises will warm up the legs and hips. The upper body needs some warm up too: swing arms with bent elbows, straight arms and from shoulder to shoulder.

Whatever you chose, get that heart rate up and move those joints before adding in weight, resistance or any jarring movement. Now get out there and move mamas!

A story

I grew up with a great, I mean really great, salesman as a father. I inherited his outward personality, willingness to talk to anyone and always thought that would take me into a sales career. Well, I tried it in the printing field and quickly decided it wasn't for me.

Fast forward to now, and here I am in sales again. But this time, I don't have to sell anything. I offer services that work, that others love and tell friends about. It's just more of a putting information out there and seeing who is looking for what you offer.

So the ironic thing is that I still feel like I'm selling when I talk to friends about what I do. On one hand, I truely whole heartedly believe in what I do and think every woman I meet can benefit from StrollerFit, restore the core or moms in motion...or all three. Still, it's that akward spot where you want to tell your friends but you don't want to be the one always pushing your service either. Ya know?

It just so happens a good friend of mine had a baby nearly 2 years ago now. Along with our shower gift I gave her a gift certificate for StrollerFit. Not wanting to be pushy, but wanting her to try it if she was interested. Turns out it wasn't a good fit for her schedule,life and all that.

However, she did join Moms in Motion this year after helping me set up a demo class for her moms group. I was tickled pink to have a friend join, and excited to be part of helping her reach her goals. When I checked email this morning, there was a notice that my friend had posted on my facebook page. It's nearly impossible to say how happy, excited, proud and thrilled the service I offer is working for her!!! YA HOOOOOO! It's so wonderful to hear the good news and I'm so happy she's sharing with everyone. =)

Here's the post:
"I just did something I've NEVER done before EVER!! I ran a mile without stopping to walk. Now I know that sounds silly to most people, but for me it's a BIG deal!! And I wanted to say thank you to you........without MIM and YOU I would have never had the motivation to run!! THANKS for helping me get ME back and do something for myself!" - Tiffany Pappas