Ploughing New Fields: Getting Into Shape With The Full Kit And Caboodle

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday May 27, 2006

Elicia Murray

THERE are, quite literally, some new kids on the exercise block.

You will find them in prams being pushed up hills, or perhaps asleep as their mothers use their strollers for balance, lunging and squatting their way to fitness.

Call it strollercise or powerpramming, but Sydney mums are taking to pram-assisted exercise with gusto.

Twice a week, Prue Crocker, a stay-at-home mother-of-two from Cremorne, makes her way to Balmoral Beach with her youngest son, 18-month-old Hugh, for fitness classes with other mothers under the guidance of their personal trainer, Dave Vickery.

"Your body's never the same after you have babies and that's something we all have to face," Mrs Crocker said.

"It's a bit of a rude reality, but the exercise is great and, being a stay-at-home mum, it's really good for my mind to get out and socialise regularly."

While gyms and fitness classes have increasingly targeted new mothers by offering child minding, Mr Vickery's beachside sessions take the idea a step further, using the strollers as another piece of exercise equipment, albeit one with precious cargo on board.

Crying children were not only tolerated, they were expected, Mrs Crocker said, and nobody batted an eyelid when one of the mothers had to take some time out to breastfeed.

Mr Vickery said the women in his classes were usually trying to slim down and get their pre-baby bodies back. The Cremorne-based personal trainer said most women were advised to wait until three months after the birth to start an exercise regime. His current crop of strollercise clients, who pay from $20 to $25 a session, brought children aged between 16 weeks and five years.

"I'm a bit of a babysitter at the same time ... I think I've learnt to turn off my hearing to certain things. It's good fun for the mothers because they get to vent," he said. High-end prams were not essential, "just as long as they're safety-oriented and stable".

Another client, Jane Heap, from Willoughby, praised Mr Vickery's hands-on approach. "He's had a steep learning curve, poor old Dave, on women's bits and pieces after they've had kids."