| Leland, NC
Making Strides: Stroller Strides Rolls into Leland
Story by Crystal S. Tatum
Photography by Megan Deitz
It’s clear out, not a single cloud in the sky. The morning air is mixed with the warmth of the newly risen sun and the chill of night, still felt in the breeze. Birds are chirping, swings are screeching, and in the distance lawn mowers are buzzing. It’s just another day at the park — that is, for everyone except the newly formed Stroller Strides of Leland.
“Who are they?” questions a puzzled park visitor who stops dead in his leisurely paced tracks, allowing the convoy of mom-driven strollers to pass. They are power-walking moms on a mission to become more “fit” mothers, with babies and tots in tow.
“Come on, ladies. We’re only getting started,” says Jody Smith, class instructor and fellow mom, as she musters up a straggler at the end of the line. The already panting mom — sporting a T-shirt that reads, “That’s how we roll” — pushes up a slight hill to join the group at a workout station. Stroller Strides combines walking with intervals of body toning using resistance tubing for a total-body workout experience.
Facing their respective children, the moms begin 90-degree bends (which are called deadlifts and are used to strengthen and tone the hamstrings and glutes) as bubbles are blown between them. Even while mamas “keep their cores tight,” the kids’ happiness and comfort remains priority. That is what sets Stroller Strides apart from many fitness programs on the market today: Mothers can get a workout in without feeling guilty — and without having to enlist outside childcare. In fact, most stations are designed for parent-child interaction, whether that is achieved through singing or toe tickling.
Ask three-year-old Lizzie Daniel what her mom Jessica is doing and she’ll answer: “She’s getting me a ball.” But what Lizzie doesn’t know is that her mother is doing lunges in the process, strengthening both her gluts and quads. Smiling through the pain, Jessica is happy because Lizzie is happy.
Elizabeth Hester of Riegelwood agrees that Stroller Strides is “guilt-free” exercise. This active mom is actually catching a workout before heading off to work. “I get mom time and exercise all at once. It’s a way to kill a number of birds with one stone,” she says.
It’s is also a great way to relieve stress, in more ways than one. Boxing mid-air and twisting simultaneously, Jody instructs the class of 12: “Jab it; jab it. Take out your aggression. What’s been bothering you?”
“My husband,” a class participant blurts out, resulting in group laughter.
For a lot of the women present, Stroller Strides has produced a network of friends who can relate to one another about the pressures of motherhood and all of society’s expectations that go along with it. They lean on each other for moral support.
“All of this stuff we see in the media — the celebrities who’ve just had babies, they’re as skinny as a rail. They aren’t real women. There’s so much pressure to be perfect. No one expects us to be perfect here,” says Kristy Reed. Kristy lost all of her “baby weight” in less than a year through Stroller Strides. Most women are cleared for exercise by their physicians six weeks after childbirth.
“We all join for selfish reasons — to get back into shape,” says Jody. “The main thing has been the friendships that have been fostered. The exercise
is secondary.”
And the friendships aren’t just for the mothers. The children have become friends, too. Ranging in ages from ten months to four and half years, the boys and girls get a chance to play together during LUNA Moms Club activities after the workouts. All Stroller Strides locations offer LUNA Moms Clubs, which are free to join.
“I mean, look around her. She has a whole peer group. She’s a social child,” Kristy says during story time, referring to her one-year-old daughter Gwenevere.
For Kristin Streeper and son, Matthew, Stroller Strides and LUNA Moms Club became their “instant family.” Kristin says she didn’t know a single person when she first moved to Leland in September 2008. Planning to take over the class in June, Kristin wants area mothers to know that being a stay-at-home mom doesn’t mean you have to stay at home. “I know the feeling of being home alone,” Kristin says. “I am hoping more moms in Leland will come out.”
Story by Crystal S. Tatum
Photography by Megan Deitz
It’s clear out, not a single cloud in the sky. The morning air is mixed with the warmth of the newly risen sun and the chill of night, still felt in the breeze. Birds are chirping, swings are screeching, and in the distance lawn mowers are buzzing. It’s just another day at the park — that is, for everyone except the newly formed Stroller Strides of Leland.
“Who are they?” questions a puzzled park visitor who stops dead in his leisurely paced tracks, allowing the convoy of mom-driven strollers to pass. They are power-walking moms on a mission to become more “fit” mothers, with babies and tots in tow.
“Come on, ladies. We’re only getting started,” says Jody Smith, class instructor and fellow mom, as she musters up a straggler at the end of the line. The already panting mom — sporting a T-shirt that reads, “That’s how we roll” — pushes up a slight hill to join the group at a workout station. Stroller Strides combines walking with intervals of body toning using resistance tubing for a total-body workout experience.
Facing their respective children, the moms begin 90-degree bends (which are called deadlifts and are used to strengthen and tone the hamstrings and glutes) as bubbles are blown between them. Even while mamas “keep their cores tight,” the kids’ happiness and comfort remains priority. That is what sets Stroller Strides apart from many fitness programs on the market today: Mothers can get a workout in without feeling guilty — and without having to enlist outside childcare. In fact, most stations are designed for parent-child interaction, whether that is achieved through singing or toe tickling.
Ask three-year-old Lizzie Daniel what her mom Jessica is doing and she’ll answer: “She’s getting me a ball.” But what Lizzie doesn’t know is that her mother is doing lunges in the process, strengthening both her gluts and quads. Smiling through the pain, Jessica is happy because Lizzie is happy.
Elizabeth Hester of Riegelwood agrees that Stroller Strides is “guilt-free” exercise. This active mom is actually catching a workout before heading off to work. “I get mom time and exercise all at once. It’s a way to kill a number of birds with one stone,” she says.
It’s is also a great way to relieve stress, in more ways than one. Boxing mid-air and twisting simultaneously, Jody instructs the class of 12: “Jab it; jab it. Take out your aggression. What’s been bothering you?”
“My husband,” a class participant blurts out, resulting in group laughter.
For a lot of the women present, Stroller Strides has produced a network of friends who can relate to one another about the pressures of motherhood and all of society’s expectations that go along with it. They lean on each other for moral support.
“All of this stuff we see in the media — the celebrities who’ve just had babies, they’re as skinny as a rail. They aren’t real women. There’s so much pressure to be perfect. No one expects us to be perfect here,” says Kristy Reed. Kristy lost all of her “baby weight” in less than a year through Stroller Strides. Most women are cleared for exercise by their physicians six weeks after childbirth.
“We all join for selfish reasons — to get back into shape,” says Jody. “The main thing has been the friendships that have been fostered. The exercise
is secondary.”
And the friendships aren’t just for the mothers. The children have become friends, too. Ranging in ages from ten months to four and half years, the boys and girls get a chance to play together during LUNA Moms Club activities after the workouts. All Stroller Strides locations offer LUNA Moms Clubs, which are free to join.
“I mean, look around her. She has a whole peer group. She’s a social child,” Kristy says during story time, referring to her one-year-old daughter Gwenevere.
For Kristin Streeper and son, Matthew, Stroller Strides and LUNA Moms Club became their “instant family.” Kristin says she didn’t know a single person when she first moved to Leland in September 2008. Planning to take over the class in June, Kristin wants area mothers to know that being a stay-at-home mom doesn’t mean you have to stay at home. “I know the feeling of being home alone,” Kristin says. “I am hoping more moms in Leland will come out.”
