1. Introduction
2. Stroller Strides is Here in Monrovia
3. Elite Fitness for Families
4. Business Profile: West Coast Elite Gymnastics

Introduction:

Hello Foothill Families,

There are fantastic happenings in our community and this issue’s focus is fitness. Summer days are gone and the coordinating of drop-offs, homework, and extra-curricular activities mean jumpstarting the daily routine. We parents often put ourselves second to the kids’ schedules and don’t make time for our needs. This is why I’m so excited about the proactive thinking of our local entrepreneurs. Stroller Strides, Elite Fitness, and West Coast Elite Gymnastics all offer something for every family member. No more compromising, no more wasted time, no more complaining (well, there will always be that!).

New on the site is Parenting Websites. These are a few I love and find very useful. There are tips on saving money, packing creative lunches, fantastic crafts and games, and much more. Send along a great site you enjoy; I will gladly add it to the list.

Thanks for reading!

Lori

(626) 205.0337

lori@foothillfamilysgv.com

Stroller Strides is Coming to Monrovia :

Get ready to move, Moms! Grab your little ones and get that stroller ready because Stroller Strides is now in Monrovia! It’s been too long since our community has had a fitness group for parents with their babies and toddlers. Kristy Sketeris and her daughter, Mia, will be at Recreation Park three mornings a week beginning with the Stroller Strides Grand Opening Event on September 12 at 9:00 in the morning. If you hurry, you can be among the first ten to sign up for membership and receive a $50 off the registration fee, a Stroller Strides tee, and free resistance tubes. Contact kristysketeris@strollerstrides.net.

Kristy will be power walking through the park, stopping every few minutes for cardio and full-body strength training exercises that use body weight and resistance tubing. Along the way, the babies aged six weeks to four years old are involved and entertained with songs and interactive games. This is a win-win situation for moms, especially new moms who desperately need to get out into the community and meet other moms yet still be with their child or children. Moms get to converse and socialize with parents who are in a similar family situation. Babies and toddlers get to enjoy a fresh outdoor environment with new faces, some that are just like their own!

Kristy starts her group of Stroller Striders in an exercise, and then engages the moms and children in a song that may involve a finger-play. The babies love it, the toddlers join in, and the moms get their minds off the challenge of the exercise. And challenging it is. I am a long-time runner who prides herself on having an above average level of fitness. After completing the hour-long class, I told Kristy that her Stroller Strides program kicked my butt! I was feeling the results of that workout for a good three days.

Kristy Sketeris is Stroller Strides certified which means she has received instruction with an emphasis in prenatal and postnatal fitness which includes infant and adult CPR. She is knowledgeable in proper stroller posture and in knowing how to ensure new moms are strengthening the muscles necessary to handle the demands of a baby and toddler. Stroller Strides specifically focuses on strengthening muscle areas that are weakened and drawn out of proper alignment in moms. Even if you are not a new mom, the demands of caring for a young child take their toll on posture and your entire body. My youngest of three children is almost four years old and I felt in just one class the benefit that a series of classes would have.

Moms need to workout and moms need time outside of their homes. Grocery shopping and other errands do not count. A mommy and me class does count, however, and this is what Stroller Strides should be considered, except that this class is about moms too. Not only does Kristy involve all of the moms in her class in conversation (for example, she asked us at the start to share what we all had for dinner the night before), she asks specifically about each mom and her little ones and invites the class to join her in some fun play in the park after class. What a great excuse to get out the door to enjoy fresh air and exercise while having fun with your baby and enjoying conversation with other moms just like you. Kristy says, “In the whirlwind of Motherhood, getting the energy and motivation to make your way out the door...to do _anything_, is the hardest step! At Stroller Strides, we recognize that feat and we want to Congratulate you for making your way to class!! If you have wanted to go to class but haven't made it out the door yet, we welcome you to make that journey. You will feel better for it! Come experience a class filled with moms to relate to and laugh with. PLUS, experience a fantastic and effective workout!”

In addition, Kristy offers the LUNA Moms Club with fun playgroup activities and Moms Night Out events. The first meeting is right after class on September 21, at 10:15. LUNAs will make water bottle shakers with their little ones. Parents are asked to bring an empty and dry plastic bottle and Kristy will supply the confetti, pasta, and stickers to fill and decorate them. The result will be a personalized shaker-bottle for the kids to play with during classes. With the songs parents sing in the classes, the shaker will come in handy to keep the rhythm and the beat! The first Moms’ Night Out event is October 25^th at BJ’s in Monrovia. LUNAs also plan to adopt a family in December. Check the website at http://classes.strollerstrides.net/playdays.aspx?webUsername=monrovia for a schedule of the upcoming activities for LUNA Moms Club.

Elite Fitness for Families :

Getting kids to exercise can be a challenge. Gone are the days when kids raced bikes and skateboards freely in the neighborhood, our schools no longer place enough emphasis on physical education, and not all kids play organized sports. These days kids are more likely to spend their time sitting in front of a computer or video game screen, munching junk food and slurping soda.

Elite Fitness CrossFit Kids of Monrovia offers a solution. Coaches Ryan and Kate Hunt, parents themselves, know the importance of instilling in kids a lifestyle that is fit and healthy. They also know that if you call it exercise, kids want no part of it. Call it sport or a game and they come running. CrossFit Kids does that and more. For starters, they don’t just run; they do adventure runs. Coach Ryan leads a string of 6-14 year-olds weaving around basketball poles, playfully changing directions, and throwing in fun jumps here and there. Because this feels more like a game of follow the leader than a workout, it’s no surprise these kids are smiling. The adventure run is part of the warm-up activities that include stretching, balance work, and suicide sets where kids repeat a short-distance sprint, touch the ground, and hurry back. Yet, the next class will offer something different, as each class is as creative as Coach Ryan and Coach Kate make it.

This is true of every CrossFit Kids workout. The program is play with guidance. It combines cardiovascular, gymnastics, and strength training moves. It’s a strength and conditioning program of “constantly varied functional movements performed at a high intensity that delivers fitness.” CrossFit Kids educates kids on technique, form, and recreational value, it inspires to keep them motivated, and it engages them in a fun and playful way that is challenging without being competitive in an environment that offers something to every kid. It’s a way to “get balance, strength, healthy, and fit,” says Coach Ryan. He and his wife, Kate run the program knowing that it “lends itself to something that’s going to be perpetual” in the kids’ lives.

Following the warm-up in the hour-long class is skills training where kids learn moves they will use later in the “Workout Of The Day.” The coaches model and check for proper form and technique, each kid receiving one on one, hands-on attention. Coaches Ryan and Kate use humor to make serious points and use phrases kids understand and respond to. Coach Ryan was getting the kids to master a squat that involved raising a PVC pipe from waist to arms’ length. He told the kids it’s like “trying to put paint on your stomach.” It’s fun for the kids to paint their stomachs and they grin and giggle as they complete the moves. And they do struggle at some point, because each kid challenges himself at his or her individual level. Everybody moves at a unique pace and grasps a technique at varying levels, yet it’s no matter in this class. The goal is to challenge yourself and to not only reach but exceed those goals.

Last is the Workout Of The Day, or WOD, when the class incorporates the skills they have learned. For this culmination, the class completes a sequence of these skills. The coaches determine how many and in what order each move will be done. Then they decide how many rounds of the series the class will do in ten minutes. With a little encouragement, the class agrees they can do it, and they’re off. Throughout, the coaches are alongside the kids, motivating and cheering them on. Judging by the determination on their faces, these kids are giving it their all. They know, thanks to CrossFit Kids, that doing their best for their coaches is important, but it’s even more important to do it for themselves.

Great as this is for the kids, a savvy parent won’t see past yet another hour on the sidelines waiting for class to end. Thanks to the ingenuity of Ryan and Kate Hunt, nobody is left on the sidelines. Elite Fitness CrossFit Kids and Elite Fitness Bootcamp, run by Eric LeClair, now run tandem classes because they know how challenging it is for parents to squeeze a workout into their day. Childcare makes it tough. It’s either take turns getting out while the other watches the kids, hire a sitter, or go to a gym with childcare. Regardless, schedules must be coordinated. Each week, CrossFit Kids and Elite Fitness Bootcamp meet from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday and Wednesday evenings at Arcadia’s Foothill Middle School located at Foothill and 2^nd. With both classes running at the same place at the same time, parents don’t have to worry about the kids. Why not take advantage of the one hour in the day when everyone gets what they want (how often does that happen?)? Parents get their workout knowing their kids are safe, active, and outdoors, and kids burn off excess energy while having fun. To register for Bootcamp, call 626-437-8739 or visit www.elitefitnessbootcamp.net.

Join the community of parents and kids who get fit together in a safe outdoor atmosphere that has become a true family affair and social event. This group arrives early to class to visit with one another and they often “play” outside of class, competing in athletic events and doing fun runs. Eventually they hope to have the kids join in local events like Derby Days and the Mt. Wilson Trail Race Kids’ Run.

Elite Fitness has recently acquired a new headquarters in Monrovia at 135 East Chestnut, Suite 12B. This group of Bootcampers and Crossfitters have come together to volunteer their time painting and preparing to meet the opening goal of October 1. There is definitely something special about this community. See for yourself! CrossFit Kids is in its inaugural cycle which began July 30 and ends September 14. The next cycle begins September 24 and ends October 31. Payment options vary, but the complete cycle costs $180. To register, contact Ryan and Kate Hunt at efcrossfitkids@yahoo.com <mailto:efcrossfitkids@yahoo.com> or at 626-359-6280.

Business Profile: West Coast Elite Gymnastics:

Kids love gymnastics. Kids also love soccer and baseball and dancing and painting and piano. Each family has certain factors to help determine which activities or sports its kids will join. They range from cost, time commitment, and distance from home to name just a few. Regardless of these factors, parents shuffle schedules and make sure they come prepared to sit and wait while their kids partake in the class. Of course, we enjoy watching our children learn and grow, but we all come to a point of dread, especially if we have several kids involved in activities at the same time. It’s a simple matter of being stretched too thin. We need time for ourselves too. If a kids’ class promised to consider the parents in their offerings, would it influence a family’s decision?

West Coast Elite Gymnastics does just that. Donna Selby and Lisa Dang are two mothers of gymnasts. They know the toll a demanding schedule can have on a family’s routine. They opened West Coast Elite Gymnastics with the intention of making it easier on families. They do this by catering to parents’ needs. What parent wouldn’t like access to wireless internet access while her child is participating in a class or practicing in a team setting? How about that workout that parents put on the back burner so that they can juggle their kids’ schedules? WCE Gymnastics provides both.

Wireless internet is available in the gym so parents have the option to get work done while they wait for their kids. Parents are also welcome to utilize the gym to squeeze in that workout that’s never before been possible. Offering something for parents is so forward-thinking and yet it’s so about time. Any parent knows that taking care of ourselves is a precursor to being a good and attentive parent.

Classes are offered from toddler aged to team level. WCE runs a cute program that gives each age group and ability level a different sea-inspired name like Sea Squirts and Lively Lobsters. For youngest clients, the Malibu Beach Babies, classes are parent participation in a fun, yet structured environment.

Their plans for the future will include classes in dance, pilates, yoga, and aerobics so that parents can enroll in tandem classes with their kids. They also want to offer birthday parties for kids and kids’ night out events.

It really does take a mom or two who have been there to know exactly what parents today need. How nice that parents are finally a part of the equation. Sure, we do all that we can for our kids, but we parents have needs too and it’s nice to be recognized and appreciated.

Find West Coast Elite Gymnastics online at www.wcegymnastics.com <http://www.wcegymnastics.com/> or stop by at 900 South Santa Anita Ave. in Arcadia to have a look for yourself.