FORT CARSON, Colo. — Parenting young children can be a pretty tough challenge for most people. Traveling even short distances can be overwhelming as parents must prepare themselves and their child for the trip, load the family into the car with all the necessary supplies, bags and carriers, then unload at their destination before even getting started on an activity.
Those who wish to keep their fitness level up have an even more daunting task. How does one get a good workout in while also tending to the needs of their little ones?
That’s the task Army spouse Tess Partridge faced a few years ago.
As a former collegiate athlete, Partridge loved working out, being competitive and staying in shape. She made a point to continue making those habits a part of her daily regimen even after graduating from college.
“After becoming a mom, however, I found it was really difficult and expensive to leave my newborn in a gym nursery or finding a group fitness class that was both child friendly and challenging enough to leave me feeling like I got a good, professionally led, workout in,” she said. “And, I knew I could not be alone in those feelings, so decided I would create the program myself and make it affordable for military Families just like us.”
At Fort Carson, Partridge’s program is called Mom’s Fitness Bootcamp. It combines instructor-led activities combining cardio, core and strength training exercises designed specifically for moms with young children.
More than 20 moms showed up at the Ivy Physical Fitness Center tennis courts May 10, 2021, to participate in Mom’s Fitness Bootcamp, many with their children in strollers. Partridge directed the ever-changing exercises much like a Pilates instructor at a local gym.
She dictated movements, specified repetitions and encouraged participants as they worked through carefully planned drills. Throughout the two-hour training session, she occasionally announced that a break was soon to come. Then the moms tended to their stroller-bound children, took a few deep breaths and geared up for their next challenge.
Meanwhile on the other side of the court, toddlers raced each other from fence to fence, or did other things that toddlers do, all under the watchful eye of 20 other moms.
It’s an interesting dynamic, something that could never happen inside a gym or a day care center. And, it’s exactly the way the moms want it.
“There’s not a lot of groups or places out there where you can work out and bring your kids,” said Meagan Bennett, a Fort Carson spouse. “And as for the workout, it’s been kicking my butt.”
Partridge likes to inject variety into the workouts as moms typically gather five days a week at various locations, both on the Mountain Post and at various venues in Colorado Springs.
Patty Liebowitz, a Fort Carson spouse, said she’s been working out with the group for more than a year.
“I started when I was four months pregnant and worked out until two days before delivery. Then I was back with the group four weeks later,” she said. “It’s helped with my stamina and endurance. I’m a lot stronger and my labor was a lot shorter than with my first child.”
Word of the program’s effectiveness has been spreading across post and eventually reached the staff at the Army Wellness Center (AWC). Intrigued by what she’d heard, Quintunya Chapman-Hamilton, health educator at AWC, decided to check out Mom’s Fitness Bootcamp several weeks ago and was instantly impressed.
“After meeting Tess (Partridge) and seeing the program in action, I started referring AWC clients to Mom’s Fitness Bootcamp,” she said. “I’m also planning to become a coach/instructor for iStroll, the program’s parent organization and the business that Tess started. She’ll be leaving Fort Carson this summer as her husband changes duty station, and she needs coaches to carry on her intent for the program.”
Partridge created iStroll in 2015 with two moms. Since then, the program has grown to over 25 locations around the nation and now includes thousands of participants, almost all connected to the military in some way.
“The workouts are original to me, but instructors definitely make them their own, which I highly encourage,” Partridge said. “The workouts are always changing and evolving, but will always follow a set format and ‘vibe’ to ensure all iStroll workouts are similar in intensity and programming across the U.S.”
The workout brings the moms in, but participants said there’s ultimately more to the program than intense physical exercise.
“This has changed my life,” said Bennett. “I love the community it creates. It’s moms supporting moms. We’ve made good friends and taken our friendships outside of this format to where we do many other things together.”
To learn more about Mom’s Fitness Bootcamp contact the AWC or visit https://istroll.co.
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