FIT4MOM providing a workout with local moms in mind

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) -- FIT4MOM, as the name implies, is focused on one thing: providing a workout with moms in mind that touches on all aspects of being healthy.

"It's a group for wellness," said Alex Lindstrom, owner of the North Fresno/Clovis branch of FIT4MOM and a mother of one with another on the way. "It's not just physical or fitness wellness, it's also mental for socialization for the mom and child."

The program consists of two different kinds of classes that alternate to give women options six days out of the week (Stroller Strides meets Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at Railroad Park while Strides 360 meets Tuesdays and Thursdays at Sierra Bicentennial Park). Anyone at any stage of motherhood is encouraged to attend.

"All of our instructors are certified in prenatal and postnatal fitness," Lindstrom said. "So everything we do is safe for a mom who is pregnant or one who just had a child or one who is done having children."

The workouts, Lindstrom says, strengthen parts of the body that are key in motherhood.

"It helps with ease of labor," she said. "So your body and muscles are going to be able to go through labor better."

Stacey Howard is a mother of two who has been attending FIT4MOM since the local branch launched in January. In that time, she's lost 45 pounds and says the classes help strengthen muscles that will help in raising children.

"It's all based on your everyday life," she said.

The class also fills a void that both Howard and Lindstrom said exists in the Clovis area.

"Before FIT4MOM basically you either go to a gym or you do the workout DVD at home," Howard said.

"Especially here in the Fresno-Clovis area, there are very few gyms that offer childcare and if they do, they don't take newborns," Lindstrom said. At FIT4MOM, mothers are encouraged to bring their children and make them part of the process.

"They see you want to do it and then they want to do it, so in a sense it makes them want to be healthier and stay active," Howard said.

The class also provides the women with a community of moms who are going through the same experiences, allowing them to share and grow together.

"Becoming a mom is very isolating, you have a child and your world turned upside down in the best way possible. You find you stay home a lot. You want to lose the weight but you aren't leaving the house," Lindstrom said. "With FIT4MOM we give a rhyme and reason to leave in the morning."

The program also offers your first class free. For more information on FIT4MOM, click here.