If getting more active is part of your new year plan, here are a few great places where you can involve the entire family.
Playful Poses Kids and Family Yoga
Discover fun things to do with the family
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Founded by Adrienne Woods, this pop-up, story-based yoga experience is designed for families and children in St. Louis. As a Yogi Beans certified instructor, mom, and former early childhood educator, Woods offers a variety of yoga services including park meet-ups, party services, and preschool and grade-school sessions. At Playful Poses park meet-ups, families enjoy a short, themed session followed by mingling for $10 per family. Parties and events are tailored to the party theme; a 30-minute yoga session is $50. Pricing for private yoga sessions is $150 for two hours, and each session includes mats, music, and lots of family-sized fun. [email protected].
Climbing can be a great family activity because you can easily see progress and the open hours accommodate even the busiest of schedules. There are no age restrictions, but kids have to weigh at least 35 pounds to use the auto belays. For kids 6 and older, the Intro to Climbing class will provide an overview of climbing essentials, including the auto-belay system, rope climbing, and the bouldering wall. The Gravity Lab at the Steel Shop location in St. Charles is where kids can scale a wide variety of walls and even large hanging blocks. There is also a series of towers that reach 20-feet high where kids can develop their sense of balance. Families can buy a day pass, a 10-visit pass, or a membership. 1419 Carroll, St. Louis; 650 N. Main Center, Suite 105, St. Charles.
Life Time is committed to helping families be active together. They offer a range of classes, beginning with a Grown Up and Me Class for toddlers from 1–2 years old. Class options for older kids include dancing, karate, rings, and yoga. In GameFace Sport, kids learn skills such as balance, coordination, and agility. If you’re looking for more unstructured activities, families can take advantage of open gym, family swim times, the climbing rockwall, and racketball and squash courts. Family locker rooms are also available. Both Lifetime locations are accessible with a one-day or monthly membership. 2051 S. Lindbergh, St. Louis and 3058 Clarkson, Ellisville.
With the popular American Ninja Warrior television show, it probably won’t take much convincing to excite your kids about Ultimate Ninjas. Kids can enroll in a fitness class where they will work through agility and upper body obstacles, while building self-confidence and improving their skills. Families with kids older than 6 years of age can participate in Open Play. This is a fun way to have a friendly family competition, as you make your way through ring swings, devil steps, parkour boxes, and mini trampolines. For the real enthusiasts, there is a weeklong summer camp for kids ages 5–16. Purchase individual sessions by the hour, or opt for an Open Play membership. 140 Long, Suite 130, Chesterfield.
Fitness Impact Training Martial Arts
One of the unique things about material arts is that people of all ages can train together, which makes it a perfect activity for families. Learning together creates a valuable experience for your kids. You’ll be able to demonstrate what practicing looks like while modeling the vulnerability that comes when it takes multiple attempts to master a new skill. It’s a great way to bond. You can encourage your kids, and they can, in turn, cheer you on. Trial classes are available with a free class pass. 2370 N. Highway 67, St. Louis.
Mom-focused fitness classes
When you’re a new mother—or even a mom-to-be—it can be hard to find time to get in a good sweat. Sometimes, the greater challenge is simply finding the workout that’s right for you. Luckily, fitness studios around the St. Louis region offer classes specially designed for moms, as well as women who are expecting. Maybe you like to dance, or ride a stationary bike. Perhaps yoga is your thing? Whichever kind of workout sings to you, there is a class to suit your needs.
The Fit4Mom franchise offer a versatile menu of wellness and fitness programs for moms and moms-to-be. Classes include FIT4BABY, a six-week routine that includes group workouts and community support, Stroller Strides, an hour long workout that includes cardio, strength, and core training, and Body Well, an all-encompassing, two-month program designed to help moms with workouts, recipes, and accountability. Fit4Mom doesn’t operate out of a traditional studio. Instead, workouts take place indoors at Mid Rivers Mall, as well as in outdoor settings, such as Shaw Park in Clayton. See website for schedule. 808-445-5599.
Keep in mind that most bungee workouts aren’t ideal for pregnant women. However FYSIQ does have some options for parents and children who would like to work out together. Consider FYSIQ’s Groove classes, which are essentially dance workouts that are good for anyone age 6 and older. “It’s an eclectic playlist of music, including music from around the world,” Gutzler says. “Guests are moving to the beat, increasing their heart rate, and having fun.” 3965 Park, 314-437-8864.
Founder and owner Abby Erker, a pregnancy and postpartum corrective exercise specialist, is on a mission. Erker says she wants to “empower women to feel at home in their bodies.” For her, that means offering a range of classes that cater to women at different stages of their pregnancy journey. There are routines for those who are trying to conceive or navigating their first trimester, women in their second trimester, and, of course, those who are transitioning from their third trimester to early postpartum. Materra Method also offers classes for moms and their non-mobile babies that are a mix of women wearing their children in carriers and laying their babies on yoga mats next to them. For these classes, moms can bring any other toys, blankets, or loungers that will help keep the kiddos comfortable. Erker says she wants women to know they can “be a great mom and take care of our bodies and our needs, too.” 7638 Gannon.
Jewish Community Center’s Mom Squad
Not only does the J offer standard fitness and exercise programs, it is also enrolling women for its Mom Squad training sessions. The Mom Squad is an eight-week training program that aims to help women improve muscle tone, cut body fat, and manage stress levels using a diversity of workouts and training techniques. Commit to up to three small group training sessions per week. Group exercises, meanwhile, focus on cardio and flexibility. There are also homework assignments designed to help participants understand their nutritional and mindfulness needs and goals. Mom Squad enrollment is open to J members only. 2 Millstone Campus, 314-432-5700.
This studio in Benton Park West caters to yogis of all experience levels. Prenatal classes are designed with women in their first, second, and third trimesters in mind, and include trimester-appropriate poses, breathwork, meditation, and asana. Contact the studio for more information on booking an individualized class. 2758 Wyoming.
Thursday night prenatal yoga classes that help women prepare their bodies for labor, birth, and motherhood. The techniques used in the class are designed to ease discomfort and help women feel connected to their bodies. Both locations of the studio also offer prenatal massage appointments. 1901 Arsenal; 7200 Manchester. 314-276-9882.
You don’t need to be an expert yogi to get the most out of his Maplewood studio’s prenatal workshops. The classes focus on flexibility and strength building, while sharing breathing techniques that are useful for labor and relaxation. Women in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy are welcome to sign up. 2812 Sutton. 314-309-3749.
