Stroll Your Way to Fitness

Make Baby Your Exercise Partner

By Laura Cone

When Ginger Couden of Seffner, Fla., was pregnant with her son Dylan, he probably grew comfortable with the bounces and movements that came with his mother's rigorous exercise routine.

Even though Couden took aerobics classes, walked and lifted weights throughout the first seven months of her pregnancy, she gained 50 pounds. After Couden gave birth to her son, now nearly 2 years old, she wanted to lose the weight without being separated from her newborn.

Couden decided to try Stroller Strides, fitness classes designed for new moms and their babies. She lost the weight and gained new friends.

"I did not want to take him to a gym day care, and some gyms don't take infants in their kids' clubs," Couden says. "I did not feel comfortable leaving him while he was that young, but I needed the motivation of being with other moms."

Living in Oahu, Hawaii, at the time, Couden says she bonded with other moms at the class. "I got the support I needed, especially by talking about the tricks of the trade of motherhood, such as how to get him to sleep through the night," she says. "And the other moms and I kept each other in check. It got me up and got me going in the morning."

Today, Couden, who went on to become a Stroller Strides instructor, can be found power walking on sunny days in Tampa, Fla., with a group of other women and their babies in strollers. Babies rarely become fussy as the moms stop to use the stroller and their babies for toning exercises or entertain their children with songs such as London Bridge and Ring Around the Rosie.

Shayla Gerena of Brandon, Fla., brings her 2-year-old son Brett to Couden's Stroller Strides classes. "I love the way we sing," Gerena says. "It keeps the kids more involved. He loves being outside and the constant moving."

Want to see more?

• Exercising with Your Baby Indoors
• Get Your Body Back: A Guide to Exercising After Baby
• Fitting Exercise into Your Busy Schedule
• Talk about it!