Move it Momma Fitness: A Fit Community That Caters to the Mom!

Recently I was invited to work out at Move it Momma Fitness in Huntington Beach, Calif. If you can’t tell by the name, the facility caters to moms and includes daycare for the kiddos so moms can work out. It exceeded all of my expectations. It’s not just a gym—it’s more like a community center or a bar where everyone knows your name.

A friend of mine and our two adorable children were warmly welcomed by the owners, and we were immediately able to drop our kids off in the child care center and take a tour of the facility. There was the group fitness workout room, which was standard, open, roomy, well mirrored and even better air-conditioned (always a huge workout plus), and three rooms for childcare. Our kids, both roughly two years old, were dropped off in the largest most populated room for babies and toddlers. Next door was a room for five years and up, and we walked in on some kids playing a math game with playing cards. The third room was for older kids and though it’s not used as often, I could see many a teenager getting some good study time while his mom got her workout on.

The lobby was where I first got the sense that I had entered a community and not just a gym. The bulletin board was full of your usual mommy stuff, trainers, businesses and tutors, but beneath that was a clothing swap! Plastic drawers full of kid’s clothes from infant to 5T which you could take and leave as you please. What a fantastic idea!

Soon enough, we were ready to start the Turbo Kick class! I was the only showing pregnant lady in the class, and the women were warm and welcoming. The class was awesome—a fierce kicking, punching, moving ride—the kind of class where an hour flies by. The majority of the class seemed to be regulars and as my friend and I were new, the instructor gave us extra prompts and guidance without making us feel out of place. She also discreetly provided me with some “pregnant lady” modifications, as a couple of the jumps sent me running for the potty.

In the entire course of the class I noticed that not once was anyone interrupted by the day care provider. This is shocking to me as in my gym experience, I have always been pulled out of class for my son who wouldn’t watch the movie they were showing. But there wasn’t a TV in this room, the kids were actively engaged and happy and either didn’t cry or the day care provider handled it. Plus, we are not talking about a workout class in a big gym where one or two people might have a kid in child care; we are talking about a class where each of these women has one or two or more kids in there. And not once was anyone bothered? Like I said, this was not a gym, this was a community of women, awesome women.

After the turbo class, I stayed for the Fit4Baby Prenatal fitness class, which is different each week. This week we were there for some low impact stuff, yoga, some strength training and abdominal work. As I have diastasis recti the instructor again provided me with some modifications. After more than two hours, I thought my son would be losing it in the child care center and starving as it was well past his lunch time but when I went to check him out, the only thing he was unhappy about was leaving.

I only wish I lived in the area; I’d want to be a part of this awesome community. The classes sound cool too; I mean who doesn’t want to take a class called “A Momma Walks into a Barre”? What mother wouldn’t want to go to a gym where your kid isn’t seen as just another $5 monthly charge but as an integral part of their ever-growing fitness community?

If you are in the OC area, I suggest you check out Move it Momma Fitness. And if you’re in the LA area, do what we did and make a day of it—head to Move it Momma Fitness, get your workout on and then cool down at the beach. They offer one time or 10-time class pricing as well as monthly. I guarantee the next time I’m in the area, I’m going to grab a class!

Have you ever taken a class that catered so well to moms? —Dara