Is there a more busy group of people in the world than mothers of newborn babies, who must juggle the non-stop demands of child rearing with life’s other obligations?
It’s easy to see why physical fitness, even while especially essential after the bodily trauma wrought by carrying a baby for nine months, can fall by the wayside.
To combat this, a recent mother from Williamsburg has started a fitness class catered to the neighborhood’s rising ranks of recent mothers.
The “Mighty Mommies” workout class started around one month ago in McCarren Park. It was the creation of Lakey Evans-Pena, a former Alvin Ailey dancer who now teaches in the company and runs a personal training company with her husband.
“I went through the transition myself of having a child and thinking, ‘I want to get back to being fit.’ It’s this conflict between having this phenomenal being that you created and your body being in a bad place,” she explained.
“It’s hard to negotiate taking care of a kid, working, and being fit.”
Since it began, there have been two classes per week, though Evans-Pena plans to increase the offerings to five classes.
The hour-long workouts are designed to “remind the body where it used to be and get it back on track,” she said.
“Your entire skeletal system gets thrown off when you go through pregnancy. There’s more weight on you, you’re pitched forward, your abs are completely overstretched.”
Most of this is accomplished by focusing on “core work” targeting muscles essential to good posture.
Lest anyone get the wrong idea, the workout also includes what Evans-Pena termed “basic boot-camp stuff” like push ups, pull-ups, and crunches.
“This isn’t some Jane Fonda leg-lifts and waste-twists. This is a strength-training workout. I’m a big believer in intensity. This is no joke,” she said.
Fathers, many of whose waistlines are expanding inexorably as they enter middle age, are more than welcome. Just recently, the “Mighty Mommies” reeled in their first daddy.
Bringing strollers is encouraged as well, the presence of which has made the Mighty Mommies a unique, easily identifiable, and quintessentially contemporary presence to those who happen by.
The strollers underscore that the workouts are a good way for busy moms to multi-task: the mothers sneak in a workout while the children enjoy a morning in the park.
“That’s the great thing about being in the park
