Help for heart, head

The mothers get exercise and share feedback.
By HOWARD COHEN
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
"It's not strolling with your stroller, you are walking."
Stroller Strides instructor Charlene Pelaez isn't kidding when she tells that to a huffin' and puffin' member of her class.
Working out with baby is not exactly a walk in the park -- even if you are walking around a friendly park on this comfy spring morning. You will feel it. Was it the lunges down the sidewalk? Or the bicep curls with the rubber resistance bands? Or did everyone just move fast?
"When you have wheels you tend to go faster; you have the wheels for momentum," Pelaez explains. So that's why the moms with strollers outpace those walking sans baby.
Pelaez' Stroller Strides is a new group exercise class for moms and baby. (Dads and grandparents are welcome, too.) The idea is to bring together parents who want a challenging aerobic and strength training workout but who also want bonding time with baby and other like-minded parents. The 60-minute class offers power walking, with strategic stops for strength training using resistance tubing, lunges and crunches. Classmates push strollers while walking briskly and use the carriage for support during balance exercises.
"We exercise and talk about, 'Help me! He's not eating! What do I do?"' Pelaez, a mom of two toddlers, said with a chuckle.
That's one benefit of the program. Young moms can seek answers to baby-rearing questions and address fears with peers.
A forum
"Some moms may be depressed, feel isolated, confused, think they are not doing a good job. This is a forum to get together with other mothers and get support," said Elisabeth McCullough, mother of 18-month-old Madeleine and son Joel, 5. This is McCullough's first class, which includes a handful of other newcomers. Madeleine amuses the others when she begins dancing to hip-hop blaring from the basketball courts where an elementary school PE class shoots hoops.
"I don't like working out, but I like walking and being outside," McCullough said.
Shirley Verde, 21, a former gymnast and soccer player is on her second Stroller Strides class with son Ferni, 10 months. Going to the gym wasn't really an option because Ferni would have to be in day care.
"It's different walking with people on your level who had kids, and it's fun because baby gets to come with me," Verde said as Ferni, leaning over the bar of his carriage, seemed to be steering.
Why it started
Pelaez said she created the class because she "loves to exercise, loves babies and loves the camaraderie of being a mom and sharing stories with other moms who are looking for something fun."
Plus, "before, during, and after pregnancy, exercise is important to stay healthy," she added, having coached her class through 40 stomach crunches, 40 sit-ups with bicycling legs, 15 plies and countless lunges and walks around a track.
The class, open to all condition levels, closes with stretching and chatting and the sharing of baby products. Not to mention the moment everyone looks forward to: "The most important stretch of the day," Pelaez cheers, "a big smile and a hug for baby!"