After having her second child, Lindsay Goulet found it impossible to take any fitness class with her kids in tow, unless she paid for separate child minding.
This is how she came up with the idea for her Hot Mama Toddler Tag-Out class. While there are many boot camps available to women, they don’t cater to moms with toddlers or crawling babies.
“When I had my second baby there was no where to workout outside of my home,” said Goulet, the owner of Compass Fitness Consulting.
Her boot camp-style fitness class offers moms of children of any age an opportunity to work out, as long as they share the child minding. “After 35 minutes the moms switch,” Goulet noted.
The fitness class is run out of Crusher Combat Sports in Langford in the open loft area of gym. Children play on the main level, with a foam floor and a bouncy castle.
Jill Bobbitt brings her three-year-old son Ray to the class so she can get a workout.
“I come because there is nothing like it and it’s nice to have the kids socialize,” Bobbitt said. “It’s also nice it’s not a separate daycare and there is no extra charge.”
Parents can bring as many children as they have for the same fee. Most moms bring one or two children.
Christa Robertson brings her two kids to the class. Quinn is six months old and Owen is two.
“They don’t nap at the same time and this so much better than trying to workout at home,” Robertson said.
Goulet brings her own children, three-year-old Owen and 18-month-old Payton, while she teaches the class.
The gym setup allows parents working out in the loft to keep an eye on their kids, while maintaining enough separation to get a high-intensity workout without being distracted.
Raeleen Baxter finds piece of mind knowing other mothers are watching her four-month-old son Blaine.
“It’s better than taking him to a daycare for an hour,” Baxter said. “And here I still see him (while I workout).”
While being able to bring young children along is an added bonus, Bobbitt is thrilled with the quality of the class as well. “Lindsay works us. She holds you accountable for what we do,” Bobbitt said. “I fully believe that boot camps are the best workouts.”
While some of the moms live in the neighbourhood and can push their strollers to the gym on Westshore Parkway, others travel from Saanich and Victoria to attend the specialty class.
The weekly class draws about 10 moms and 18 children per session.
As for the workout, Goulet helps the moms get fit through circuit training with free weights and cardio.
“I talk to the group first and ask them what they want to work on,” Goulet said, explaining the women can chose to isolate certain areas, such as abdominal muscles.
The program runs in eight-week increments, but drop-in space is available. The next set of classes begin in April, 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Wednesday mornings.
For more information, call Goulet at 250-686-4346.
reporter@goldstreamgazette.com