Baby Boot Camp

By Vivian Leung
Original Post: Sept. 21, 2011       Updated: May 31, 2014

More than a dozen mothers, along with their children, gathered at Larz Anderson Park to participate in Baby Boot Camp—the latest fitness craze for women with young kids.

Allison Benitez, owner of the Baby Boot Camp franchise, told BUTV10 that the stroller-based program is designed to help mothers lose baby weight without leaving their kids at home.

“Bonding with your child is very important,” Benitez said. “You’re with your child for that hour, one-on-one. We do some of the exercises with the child, and also, we try to do at least three songs throughout the class for the children.”

The program runs both in- and outdoors, allowing classes to be held year-round. When the weather gets colder, Benitez holds the stroller-fit classes inside Pine Manor, in Chestnut Hill. Her franchise offers classes in the Brookline, Chestnut Hill and Newton Center areas.

And this workout is certainly no walk in the park.

“We do about a 10-minute warm-up, and then we’ll do a cardio and a strength,” Benitez said. “And then we alternate that—we do that about three times—and at the end, we do about a 10-minute core.”

According to Antoinette Hemphill, a Baby Boot Camp participant, “knowing a group of other moms are, here, waiting to workout” motivates her to get out of the house and work on shedding those baby pounds. Hemphill also thinks it’s a great place for children to run out their energy.

In fact, this fitness class for mothers is more like social hour for their kids—where they can play, sing song and even get some homework done.

Benitez said her two-year-old son, Rico, “loves it” because he has many friends whose mothers attend her Baby Bootcamp classes.

“It’s been over a year since I’ve had worked out, and this is definitely the most in shape I’ve been,” Hemphill said. “I definitely recommend it.”

For more information on Baby Boot Camp, please visit: www.babybootcamp.com.

Reporting from Larz Anderson Park in Brookline, Mass., Vivian Leung.