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"Buggy 4 Fitness has been nothing short of ace, there are lots of words I could use to describe it but in a nutshell it’s been fab for both me and Charlotte!! If I wind back a few months to when my baby girl Charlotte was still very small and only a matter of weeks old I was slightly daunted by the prospect of venturing out solo. In my case I’d had a 7 year gap between children, was out of practise so to speak and not really in the mindset of partaking in lots of baby groups and classes. I do have a fitness background and love to run in my spare time so when I found out about Buggy 4 Fitness and the fact I could combine my love of exercise and bring Charlotte along I was excited to try something new (it was a win win really). For all those of you out there deciding whether this is for you whilst reading this, I can guarantee it suits all abilities and child’s moods. It combines circuit/ interval type training with body weight and resistance bands and it can be as hard or easy as you want to make it. I was slightly daunted at the thought of Charlotte having a meltdown whilst we were there (in the early weeks in particular)and spending the entire hour trying to sooth her, however, the combo of fresh air and rocking in the pram certainly helped make her time enjoyable too. Sharon is very good at adapting exercises to suit not only your ability but also yours and your baby’s needs so if you need to feed/ change your baby you can still continue with the class. I have witnessed girls doing squats whilst feeding (breast feeding and bottle) and I myself have used Charlotte as an additional weight whilst doing all sorts of static exercises.

I started when Charlotte was 10weeks old (as I’d had a C section) and at first I just joined the one class a week. Very quickly this morphed into all of the classes and I saw Sharon more than I saw most people, in fact I was quite put out if anyone suggested coming round for an early morning brew if it interfered with me attending one of these classes. I am perhaps the extreme in terms of my desire to exercise but it is great for both mind and body especially after childbirth. I’ve also found its increased my overall fitness levels (probably never been as fit !!) and with minimal running I managed to run St Annes half marathon in July. I do run in between classes (whenever I get the chance) but I believe the type and variety of exercises has done wonders to my strength and stamina and massively contributed to this achievement.

It’s made my maternity leave VERY enjoyable and have loved every minute of it. It’s been nice to meet different people at the different classes and whilst you don’t feel that you have to make friends (which I have in the past at some of the other baby groups I’ve been to) this is time for both you and baby. Sharon holds four classes a week, I’m sure if she did a fifth I would have been at it but it’s great that every day is a different park, different background and journey to get there.

It’s also been great over the holiday periods as siblings are welcome. I have an 8 year old girl who has loved coming along either taking part with the exercises or helping out with the stopwatch. In fact there’s been occasions when she’s preferred to join me rather than go to a local holiday club, plus she’s met other siblings there and I could have my own mini PT in the making.

I can’t recommend it or Sharon highly enough and only sad that I won’t be returning fulltime – if I ever have the odd day off work or switch to part time I will be back J. So if you want to combine fitness with a spot of maternity leave mingling with other like-minded mums this is definitely for you." - Mel