A Place to Go Belly-Up: Hot Mama Fitness

BELLY DANCER MAYA TAAHIRA has to deal with some extra baggage as she circles her hips into figure eights: her 6-month-old son. But there's no problem with her wearing him in a sling while teaching her core-strengthening class. Students understand a little baby weight at the D.C. area's first gym devoted to moms, Hot Mama Fitness Studio (4715 Cordell Ave., Bethesda, 301-560-0626, Hotmamafitnessstudio.com), which opened last month.

It's the brainchild of owner Vionna Jones, who gears her classes toward prenatal and postnatal women (anyone who's had a child, whether six weeks or six years ago). A former civil engineer, Jones, 34, quit her job three years ago to become a fitness instructor and personal trainer. During her certification, Jones noticed that part of the population that cares very much about health and weight was underserved. "I was thinking I never see women who are pregnant at the gym. Even if they worked out before, they're not sure what they're supposed to do when they're pregnant," Jones says. "There's prenatal yoga all over the place, but nobody really does prenatal fitness. I saw that there was a need for it."

While pregnant women may feel like they need a daily pint of Ben & Jerry's, regular exercise is a better weapon against back pain, excessive weight gain and post-partum baby blues. And while certain gym moves are medical no-nos — lying flat on your back or stomach, bouncing, twisting or holding your breath — plenty are still fair game, including squats and modified sit-ups on balls.

So, once a student gets her doctor's approval, she can sample such strength-training classes as hula mama, self-defense, ballet sculpt class and belly dancing, which has its roots in labor and postpartum recovery. Most classes are intense, but the schedule also includes "restorative exercise," a gentle Pilates and yoga-based workout for brand-new moms.

"Once a woman is cleared to exercise post-delivery, she will often want to immediately resume or start an exercise program that is high-intensity and that includes lot of crunches in a effort to 'get her body back,'" Jones says. "But a six-week post-delivery body really is not ready for that. We have the expertise to safely and effectively guide our mamas back to their pre-pregnancy fitness levels."

Jones' goal is to turn the 892-square-foot studio with lime-green walls and a springy cork floor into more than a workout space. Think happy hours on Fridays, nutrition classes and a 40-minute sweatfest followed by a session with a child-development expert. It's the sort of place where Taahira can tell her students that it's OK to slow down your hip shaking if you're lugging a baby around. "Obviously, if you're holding your child, you can't shimmy, because they'll throw up all over you," she says. (Kids are allowed at most postnatal classes, but baby-sitting is also available if you call ahead.)

"You don't have — like in a regular gym — that competition," says Brigid Rauch, one of the studio's prenatal yoga instructors, who has a 13-month-old child. "It's much more of a nurturing exercise practice."

And whichever class you choose, Jones says, you're in good company: "Our mamas won't be forced to be on a treadmill next to a super-skinny 17-year-old." At eight months' pregnant, Andrea Jaye of Kensington, who twisted her way through Rauch's class, notes that "it's nice to not be the only pregnant woman in the gym." Glover Park resident Rayna McGrath even trekked up to Hot Mama on her due date. "I like to be active, so it feels good to come and sweat a little bit," says the soon-to-be mom. "They tell pregnant women not to do things like wear high heels, but you're really capable of doing anything you were capable of doing when you weren't pregnant."

In a few weeks, McGrath may find she's capable of doing even more, like belly dancing and simultaneously lulling her child to sleep. While Taahira worked those obliques, her baby conked out to the sound of mom's jingling silver belt.

Written by Margaret Foster for Express
Photo by Lawrence Luk for Express