Classes in Elmwood Park

Forget calling the babysitter or finding a gym with adequate childcare—there are plenty of local fitness classes that welcome children to exercise alongside Mom and Dad. Here are five activities that not only help kids bond with their parents, but also teach them valuable lessons about staying healthy and active. Parent & Tot Yoga at Bloom Yoga Studio | Lincoln Square Kids up to age 2 can share the mat as their parents build strength and flexibility, ease stress, and meet other moms and dads in this playful drop-in class. But that’s not the limit to Bloom’s parent-child sessions—Mom & Baby classes involve newborns in exercises designed to get new mothers active after childbirth, and Storytime Yoga weaves creative stories with thematic yoga poses to entertain and invigorate parents and children aged 2–4. Stroller Fitness at Lululemon | Bucktown It’s hard to tell the best thing about AFAA-certified fitness instructor Kim Schiefelbein’s weekly workouts: the body-toning combo of cardio, strength training, kickboxing, Pilates, and ballet; the fact that those moves are designed to be performed with a stroller-bound tot; or that the class is absolutely free. You’ll have plenty of time to decide while sweating it out each Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Lululemon’s Damen Avenue store. Karate Tots at Fonseca Martial Arts | Multiple Locations Martial arts don’t only teach self-defense; they also build discipline, mutual respect, and goal-setting skills—principles that benefit everyone, whatever their age. Both parents and kids aged 3–4 can reap these benefits in the Karate Tots program, which instills martial-arts basics in all participants while helping little ones strengthen their listening and motor skills, ability to follow directions, and social savvy. Dance with Me, Toddler! at Hip Circle Studio | Evanston Toddlers aged 1–3 may simply be practicing freeform movement in this upbeat class, but as a parent, don’t expect to get off easy: adult participants should be ready to sweat as they build muscle tone and body awareness through isolated dance-focused movements. Hip Circle Studio also features a range of other parent-child sessions, including Mom & Baby Yoga, Mother/Daughter Bellydance, and Kanga Cardio, designed for parents wearing their child in a carrier. Kidical Mass | Logan Square Think of it as Chicago’s legendary Critical Mass bicycle ride, but with fewer tats and more training wheels. On the second Saturday of every month, Logan Square’s Palmer Square comes alive with tiny cycles, towed wagons, and baby bike trailers as parents and children assemble for a leisurely 4-mile ride on low-traffic, residential streets. Participants are encouraged to dress festively, and of course, helmets are required. Rides have also recently sprung up in other neighborhoods. Want to work out without the kids? Try these five gyms with onsite childcare. Photo: © Stephanie Bassos, Groupon

“This is a serious sport. … It’s not a game. You don’t play boxing.” So says Jimmy Mango, who co-owns Franklin Street Boxing Club with his business partner, Ray Pace. Both are experienced boxers—after his first fight at age 16, Jimmy was a finalist in Chicago’s most prestigious amateur boxing tournament, the Golden Gloves. The winner goes to Nationals, and if he succeeds there, he can try out for the Olympic team. Jimmy not only has experience in the ring; he also has more than 20 years of experience as a boxing trainer. When I visited his gym, he walked me through my first-ever boxing workout, which included jump rope, speed-bag work, and some practice time in the ring with the mitts. (I got an abbreviated version: typical workouts also include shadow boxing and punching-bag work.) Like all his training sessions, mine was broken up into short intervals to imitate a real fight. “Everything’s on the bell,” Jimmy explains. “Three minutes on, one minute off.” While it’s true that you can’t “play” in a bout without getting punched, I discovered that you can have a lot of fun training in a boxing gym, even if, like me, you can only tell your right hand from your left 80% of the time. Below are some tips for newbies interested in trying out boxing, too. Some are from me, and some from Jimmy. DON’T BOX BAREHANDED This may seem obvious, but punching is hard on knuckles and wrists. To protect their hands, boxers wear hand wraps, which are long strips of cloth that wind between your fingers and basically bandage your palms and wrists. Add boxing gloves over the wraps, and suddenly your hands feel like giant bear paws. A “PUNCH” CAN MEAN MANY THINGS There are different kinds of punches, and in my training session, I learned three: jab, hook, and uppercut. Some basic principles apply to all three, though. For one, try to relax your arms. “[They] should be loose, like water,” Jimmy says. You should also breathe steadily. “When they throw punches, [people] hold their breath, and they get tired [faster],” Jimmy explains. YOU HAVE A LOT OF BODY PARTS Figuring out the difference between a right hook and a right jab is only the beginning. The hard part is executing either while your left hand protects your face and your weight is distributed evenly between your feet. Overall, you have to manage four limbs at any given time. It is like juggling four balls. Or driving four cars. THE RING DOESN’T HAVE A DOOR Maybe everyone knows this but me, but even if you walk around the ring in a methodical fashion, you still won’t find a door. You just have to duck through the ropes without accidentally garroting yourself. You can do it. YOU’LL PUNCH YOUR TRAINER A LOT, BUT HE’LL BE FINE To practice short combos, I punched Jimmy––but only in the hands, while he was wearing foamy, shovel-shaped mitts. They protected him from any (minimal) damage I could have inflicted, and because they moved with him, it semi-mimicked the experience of fighting an opponent. AVOID YOUR OPPONENT Don’t run away from them. Boxing isn’t tag. However, Jimmy recommends keeping your opponent at arms’ length as you punch and trying not to lean toward them (or unconsciously wander toward them––a problem possibly unique to me). Maintaining personal space makes it harder for them to hit you back. THE SPEED BAG TAKES SOME PRACTICE  The speed bag looks like a little bulb, suspended below a circular platform. When you hit it, it bounces back and forth, pendulum-style. Every three bounces, you hit it again. Once you learn to do this quickly and competently, à la Jimmy, it improves your hand-eye coordination and agility. However, the way I did it only improved my fearful leaping. Half the time it is swinging toward your face. DON’T SMILE I smiled through the whole workout, and it is not a tough look. Try to develop a stoic boxing face. Unless you are Jack Nicholson, in which case smile away. You are terrifying. For more tips on trying new things, check out A First-Timer's Guide to Rock Climbing. Photo: © Timothy Burkhart, Groupon

October 23, 2013—the first time I ever did a set of crunches while hanging upside down. The woman responsible for getting me in such a precarious position? Nicole, an instructor at Lincoln Park’s AIR. The newly opened aerial fitness studio was founded by Shama Patel, a former Chicago corporate attorney who debuted her first AIR location in Charlotte in 2011. But before I found myself in that unexpected inversion, I met with Shama, who showed me some moves before my beginner AIR Foundations class. In the studio, long loops of blue silk (the same used by Cirque du Soleil, according to Shama) hung from sturdy wooden beams on the ceiling. I stepped up into one and we launched into a few inversions, some stretches, and my favorite position: lying down. Shama taught me how to spread out the silk hammock and stretch out inside of it as if in a cocoon. But as Shama explained, AIR doesn’t offer your typical aerial yoga classes. The workouts also incorporate Pilates, cardio, and some strength work on the ballet barre. When Shama handed me over to instructor Nicole for AIR Foundations, I learned firsthand just how grueling (and fun) their airborne workout can be. Nicole pumped up the music. We started out simple, with a few stretches and warmups like I’d expected, but it wasn’t long before Nicole surprised me with some trickier moves. One of my favorites: 10 jumping jacks on the floor, then taking a fistful of silk in either hand and pulling myself straight upwards into a hybrid pull-up/jump. And then it happened. The inverted crunches. Once Nicole helped me wrap the loop around my back for ample support, I leaned back and pushed my feet over my head, wrapping my legs around the hanging silks. I then did two sets of crunches, curling my head and chest toward the ceiling. Oddly enough, this move came more naturally to me than the others—perhaps because I spent my childhood hanging from monkey bars and tree branches. By the time we made it over to the ballet barre, I was sweating and shaky from exertion; I barely made it through a few sets of yoga-inspired squats. But things quickly eased up, as we wound down with a few bridge-like pelvic lifts and a soothing back stretch. Lastly, a familiar cooldown: I laid flat on my back, palms up, while Nicole massaged some delightfully tingly eucalyptus oil into my temples. When I walked out of the studio, I felt a mixture of exhaustion and elation flowing through my veins—and a swell of pride over those crunches that has yet to dissipate. Try it if: You want an extra kick of cardio and strength in your yoga or Pilates routine Don’t go if: You’re looking for a workout where you can phone it in—this class is tougher than it looks Beware of: Claiming a silk loop that’s too high for you; it should hit you right around the hips Invite a friend who: Will join you for Pequod’s Pizza after class, since it’s right next door Come prepared with: Just yourself—the studio provides all necessary equipment Wear: Long, form-fitting workout pants or leggings and a form-fitting top that will stay put no matter how you move, plus bare feet Intensity level: Give it a few days before you go back for a full-blown AIR class—your sore muscles will thank you Photo: © Stephanie Bassos, Groupon