Oh Baby! Fitness, a company launched by new moms Clare Schexnyder and Cyndy Norford to offer exercise programs for new and expectant mothers, will be hosting a six-week Stroller Workout class at the park to help new mothers regain their figures and improve their health.
Schexnyder said the one-hour class will include "power walking" on Arabia's eight miles of paved trails with the babies in their strollers. The class, which includes babies that are 6 weeks to 4 years old, includes muscle conditioning, strengthening and stretching. She said moms will stop at half-hour intervals to do arm and leg exercises with weights. The class ends with abdominal work on the ground, while baby plays on the grass or blanket beside you.
"We will cover one to one-and-a-half miles round trip walking at a brisk pace," she said.
Schexnyder, who was a producer at CNN for 17 years, and Norford, a former Wachovia Bank vice president, met at DeKalb Medical Center last October in a new parents' support group. The women hit it off and discovered that they lived within a mile of each other in the city of Decatur.
Schexnyder has an 11-month-old daughter, Sofi, and Norford has an 11-month-old son, Michael. Norford helped Schexnyder, who was experiencing post-partum depression at the time, get over her problem.
"She would call me to find out if I wanted to go walking," Schexnyder said.
It turns out that before she left CNN, Schexnyder had done a story on the best way for new mothers to lose weight and all the experts said those who exercise with the babies had the best success. But Schexnyder said she couldn't find a class in Atlanta that offered classes for mothers and babies together. She had thought about launching one, but not seriously until she and Norford started talking.
They rolled out their first class — a four-week aqua class — in May at Emory and easily attracted 30 new mothers and their babies.
Buoyed by their success, the women will be offering 18 prenatal and postnatal fitness classes at seven locations in the Emory, Decatur and Lithonia areas.
Schexnyder said the classes offer new mothers a great way to get fit, bond with their babies and make new friends. All of Oh Baby! Fitness' instructors are certified in prenatal and postnatal fitness and Schexnyder said the exercises are both safe and fun.
The Stroller Workout class is a precursor to a series they are planning at DeKalb Medical Center at Hillandale by January.
The fall classes for mothers and their babies together include "Mom & Baby Yoga," "Mommy & Me Fitness," "H2Oh Baby!" (Aqua Class), and "Pilates/Ab Recovery."
For pregnant women, classes include "Pregnancy Yoga," "Pregnancy Aqua," "Birthball Fitness" and "Total Body Toning." There are also "Moms Only" yoga and a Toddlercise class.
The Stroller Workout class will meet every Monday, starting Sept. 12 at 10 a.m. in the North Parking lot near the Nature Center, 3787 Klondike Road in Lithonia.
The class is $60 for a six-week session. Drop-ins are $12 per class.
Register online at www.ohbabyfitness.com or call 678-528-1390.
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