A local fitness studio has put a new spin on exercise boot camps.
Bomb Wellness, a fitness and health studio at Danforth and Coxwell, is currently host to Toronto’s first “baby boot camp” class. Comprised of a dozen mothers, the class was started a few months ago by the studio’s program director, Victoria Wickett.
The studio is a frequent stop for parents, and Wickett started the class at the request of participants, many of whom live in East York.
Mothers and their infants, aged six weeks to nine months with “none who can crawl yet,” come to do the same exercises they do in regular programs such as circuit or TRX suspension training, but this time are carrying a heavy load, the baby. What makes it really stand out from the other classes is that the babies are in charge of “dictating the pace.”
“It is similar to the rest of our classes because we don’t take it easy on (the mothers) just because they’ve given birth,” said Wickett. “They can stand a workout and most of them are pretty tough. It’s a lot more strength building. We don’t do so much cardio in that class though, because the mothers do have the kids with them.”
So where do the babies come in?
“They usually take part in the second part of the class,” says Wickett. “The mothers will do fun raises with them, walking lunges, but for the most part, the babies are in a carrier, so they’re strapped to them the whole class, which makes it harder than regular weights.”
And the class is more effective because the baby is an added weight to regular workouts.
Baby boot camp is not the studio’s only innovation. Other classes offer equipment and gear that traditional gyms do not carry. Small, effective group exercises, personal training, yoga and pilates and a lot of attention to kids’ programming means there’s something for everyone.