Eleven motivated mamas pushed, pulled, squatted and lunged their way to get fit, healthier, and stronger with AMC’s 90-Day New Year New You Fitness Challenge. The Challenge – our most successful group goal-based program – began in January and just wrapped up April 2.
This Fitness Challenges is part of Fit & Fab’s Small Group Postnatal Training program. Fit & Fab training provides high-intensity, interval-based exercises (HIIT) that deliver results and foster camaraderie and motivation through a small group setting. With all of our Challenges, the women work out with AMC and on their own. (See the results for our Fall Fitness Challenge, and Summertime Shape-up Challenge in 2014.)
Fitness Challenge Winner
The winner of the Challenge, Mary Ann Miller, a CPS teacher and mom of 17 month-old son. We measured each mom’s strength with a six-exercise fitness assessment at the beginning and end of the Challenge, and Mary Ann had the greatest strength gains over the course of 90 days.
Here are Mary Ann’s impressive stats:
- Push-ups – Mary Ann completed 8 full push-ups in January, and 17 in April, that’s a 212% increase!
- Forearm plank – she held a plank 00:01:08 in January and increased the hold by almost two minutes to 00:03:04 in April.
- Wall ball – impressively, Mary Ann’s wall ball (with 8 pound medicine ball) increased 340%, she hit the circle on the wall 5 times in January and 17 times in April.
- Pistol squat – these single leg squats proved to be most challenging for everyone. Mary Ann successfully completed 1 squat – on her left leg – in January, and in April she pushed through 7 on her left side and 4 on her right side.
“I think I was motivated to join the Challenge because I felt so much stronger and empowered by completing AMC’s Postnatal Recovery class. I have a son now, and I really want to be able to keep up with him and be active with him for as long as possible, and I know that’s something that I need to work on. I felt the Fit & Fab Challenge would be a great way for me to see how to make this goal a reality.”
In addition to participating in Fit & Fab’s training sessions once a week, Mary Ann made some changes in her fitness routine to reach her goals. “I struggled to come up with a consistent time to work out every day, which was what I planned to do initially, but on your (Cassandra’s) advice, I incorporated some Melissa Bender Fitness videos into my weeks where I could. I also follow AMC on Instagram, so I tried to do some of those workouts at home. And on some days I just tried to do some “baby-squats” and push-ups. My son loves it when I hold him in front of me, do a squat and then lift him high into the air as I come up. It’s fun for both of us.”
Another successful mom in the Challenge had a personal goal to lose 15 pounds in 90-days. It was important to her to feel like herself again. She lost 10 pounds and claims, “I do feel the best I have since before my son was born (two years ago) and my recent rounds of IVF.”
Congratulations to all our mamas! Hard work and consistency will ALWAYS pay off.
Thanks to our local sponsors – kgrace childcare, KH Photography, Chroma k8 Beautique, Current Waves Bodywork, Neighborhood Parent Network (NPN), and Elena Rose Consulting – moms participating in the Challenge were extrinsically motivated for the chance to win some pretty sweet prizes, valued over $700.
Summertime Shape-Up Fitness Challenge
Fit & Fab’s Summertime Shape-up Fitness Challenge is returning May 1 through June 30. This is our best Challenge yet! Visit AMC’s website to learn more and to register. Join us for our most successful group, goal-based program. Even if you have “just a little” to lose, you have all of the right things to gain!