I did Fit4Mom Body Back earlier this year and loved it. I really loved the instructor so it may depend on who you get but I think they let you do one class free to try it out. Really a great workout.

Another solidcore mom here! It's incredibly efficient, and I have never done another exercise with these results in just 50 minutes. I haven't done body back, but was pretty underwhelmed with stroller strides. It was fine as an activity with my child, but if I only have 2 or 3 days a week to work out, I need something that works.

I love bodyback and I used to hate exercise. I do the Vienna/Fallschurch/Fairfax franchise. I've done stroller strides a couple of times, but I really dislike working out in the mall because I think people stare and my kid is a toddler and just is over it about 3/4 of the way in.

If you are not very fit, there are ways to regress the moves and the instructor will help you; if you are more fit, the instructor can help you add things to make the workouts harder. I used to try to get out of gym class in school and now I go 3-4 times a week. Seriously.

I enjoy the body back classes. Stroller strides wasn’t that great for me cause it felt like too much forced socialization. I couldn’t concentrate on exercising with all the kids and talking and efforts to force interaction. BB is different though. It will vary by group instructor and I sometimes feel weird not being as chatty as others but the sessions I attend are pretty good workouts. I go to 8 and 8:15 pm classes in Fairfax.

I started doing Body Back last fall and love it. My class meets at 5:30am, which is insane, but it's really the only time that works for me consistently with my working-mom-with-little-kids' schedule when I don't want to miss the few waking hours for which I am home, and I have trouble motivating to go work out after they go to bed.

The classes are challenging, but always different, which keeps it interesting.

I know others who like the really early classes at Orange Theory, but I haven't tried those myself (and I think they're more expensive).

BodyBack is AWESOME. I just started doing it regularly for the past three weeks and have lost 6lbs already.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a girlfriend who does these and LOVES them.

My go-to as a working mom of three is solidcore, but it's expensive. Crazy efficient, though, and they have locations all over the DC area. Classes are 50 minutes and I can get by with a wipe down and ponytail for the rest of the day (they don't have showers, sadly) if I go to a midday class. But they have them at various times, too.

You might get more suggestions if you post in Diet and Exercise. Good luck!

Ah thanks! didn't even realize there's a totally other forum for this stuff, I just lurk in the parenting forums. I've heard good things about solidcore--do they have folks of all fitness levels?? I obviously used to be in better shape, and I'm in okay shape now as I am running, but I don't want to feel like a total outsider.

You're welcome!

solidcore totally welcomes all levels, though it will be harder if you're not doing strength training. That said, I'm close to 200 classes and it's still super hard--it's supposed to be. You have to be willing to be humbled, I think, which is not easy but part of what makes it so effective. But I know people who tried and disliked that aspect of it, which is totally reasonable. As a busy working parent, though, it's the best bang for my considerable buck.

Class Pass may be another option for you at first if you want to try out different things. But I would absolutely do BodyBack (in addition to solidcore) if they had one convenient to me. The friend who does it loves both the workout and the community aspect of it--I'm a little envious!

Anonymous wrote:I have a girlfriend who does these and LOVES them.

My go-to as a working mom of three is solidcore, but it's expensive. Crazy efficient, though, and they have locations all over the DC area. Classes are 50 minutes and I can get by with a wipe down and ponytail for the rest of the day (they don't have showers, sadly) if I go to a midday class. But they have them at various times, too.

You might get more suggestions if you post in Diet and Exercise. Good luck!

Ah thanks! didn't even realize there's a totally other forum for this stuff, I just lurk in the parenting forums. I've heard good things about solidcore--do they have folks of all fitness levels?? I obviously used to be in better shape, and I'm in okay shape now as I am running, but I don't want to feel like a total outsider.

I haven't tried fit4mom, but I recently joined Bodymass Gym in Courthouse and really like it. It's all small group training. They have lots of early morning classes. You can do a 2-wk trial for only $49.

I also found it hard to get into a routine with a toddler. I basically gave up for a while. Now that my kid is 3, I'm reclaiming my health and my exercise routine! So good for you in doing this now.

I have a girlfriend who does these and LOVES them.

My go-to as a working mom of three is solidcore, but it's expensive. Crazy efficient, though, and they have locations all over the DC area. Classes are 50 minutes and I can get by with a wipe down and ponytail for the rest of the day (they don't have showers, sadly) if I go to a midday class. But they have them at various times, too.

You might get more suggestions if you post in Diet and Exercise. Good luck!

I was a really active group exercise person pre-pregnancy and during pregnancy. Once in the third trimester, I switched to Fit4Baby classes which I loved. Then I did stroller strides which I didn't really like as much. I gave up my gym membership once DS came and it became difficult to go enough to justify the expense. So I've just been running, but haven't seen the results I normally do when I participated 3-4x a week in group x classes. I really miss working out in a group and challenging myself. Has anyone tried body back classes (just the classes, not the program)? I'm curious what you think about them. They are probably the only thing that work with my schedule which is either super early AM so I can get back and help get DS ready for his day or after 7:30 pm when DS goes to sleep. To be clear, my partner is fully capable of getting DS ready/to bed on his own, but I'm not ready to compromise missing that much time with DS 3-4x a week. I also could do a lunchtime workout but haven't found a gym with a good lunchtime routine that wouldn't cause me to be out of office for 1.5 hours around lunch--I work near McPherson Square. Happy to hear any other suggestions! I'm 18 months PP at this point and want to feel in better shape and get some muscles back.