Parents' latest prescription for the kids: Fitness classes

Rose and Lucy Covello, both 4, are seated cross-legged on a mat in the middle of a spacious room with Japanese-style sliding doors.

Instructor Maureen Heil puts her book down and asks the pair to stand. "Stretch your hands toward the sky, pull one leg up."

The twins reach high, palms together, eyes intent on the instructor, and lift one leg cautiously.

They're a little shaky, but it's unmistakable: Rose and Lucy have mastered the tree pose, or vrksasana, in yoga parlance.

"Find your balance," cautions Heil, who is basing her poses today off of illustrations in 10 Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle - so far, the girls have completed a "whale pose," pretended they were dolphins, and imitated the wind to practice deep breathing.

Then it's on to the next page, and the next pose.

Fitness programs such as yoga classes, Zumba workouts, and CrossFit training were once the turf of harried soccer moms and urban yuppies. But these days, they're bringing the babies along.

Yet these children's fitness programs are a far cry from Gymboree classes or even mom-and-baby yoga. Instead, they're mommy's favorite workouts, modified for the pacifier set.

And parents, whether worried about childhood obesity and health, or already having to tote their kids to the gym anyway, are eating it up.

The kids don't mind it either.

"I like doing the downward dog!" said Lucy after yoga class, hopping in the studio. Since its founding in 2005, Yoga Child in Center City has run classes geared toward children as young as 2 at its studio at 903 South St.

Classes run the gamut. For $138 six-week sessions, a child can take anything from a yoga and dance class to yoga arts and crafts, which incorporates "mindful exercises" and yoga journals, said Yoga Child manager Jordyn Cutler.

"Kids are natural-born yogis," Heil said before class. "And they're so plugged-in these days that anything that gets them out of the house is good."

For Mark Nelson, who owns Yoga Garden, 131 N. Narberth Ave. in Narberth, the proliferation of children's fitness classes are a sign of changing times.

Yoga Garden already offers yoga classes for kids starting at 5 years old. But because of increased demand, Nelson is planning to add new courses geared toward 3- to 5-year-olds.

"It's very rare to have a neighborhood where you just let your kids run around," he said. "Society has moved to a place where parents schedule and direct their kids' activities."

But should parents be snapping up yoga mats for their toddlers? It depends on the kid, says Mary Lou Gavin, a medical editor for Nemours' KidsHealth.org and a pediatrician at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington.

There's still value in the time-honored tradition of letting your children romp in the backyard - but it's also important to lead them in "structured play," said Gavin.

Instructors say that enrolling young children in fitness classes also helps them develop social skills and learn to follow instructions.

Still, Gavin said, some children are simply too young to shimmy their hips at a Zumba session or strike a tree pose in a yoga class.

"My concern would be that the programs are not necessarily developmentally appropriate. The kids may lose interest in it," she said. "At such a young age, it might be a chore."

If your child is kicking and screaming on the way to a date with a yoga instructor, Gavin said, that's probably a sign they're not ready for it.

Amy Patroni, a 38-year-old West Chester mother of two, said she had some reservations about enrolling her son, Brett, in a Tiny Tots program at Kennett Square's KMC Dance and Gymnastics Center when he was just 16 months old.

"I thought he was way too young, but he loved it," she said. "And now he can jump really high, he can do somersaults, he can get on the rings on our swing set. I really think it's because of that class."

Marissa Pellegrino, who ran Brett's class at KMC, opened Relentless Fitness, 249 S. 10th St., in April. She already runs classes for kids starting at 18 months - and holds one-on-one sessions as a personal trainer for kids as young as 6.

The key to working with young children? Moderation, Pellegrino said. She's not out to turn her students into Olympic athletes, she said. The goal is simply to get them moving.

Last week at a gymnastics session for her youngest students (these run about $60 to $75 per month), Pellegrino played ringleader as five toddlers scrambled across large, soft blocks, swung from tiny horizontal bars, and bounced on a trampoline.

Holding Pellegrino's hand, Jacob Weisgold, 21 months old, carefully maneuvered his way along a balance beam as his father, Dean Weisgold, looked on.

"He's so good!" Weisgold said.

"Isn't he?" said Pellegrino, beaming. Jacob jumped off the beam and grinned.

Pellegrino keeps her sessions under 45 minutes to avoid boredom or tantrums.

"Their attention span is not great," she said, laughing. "The more consistently you get them in, the more they're into the routine. Even if they can't talk, they know what they're doing when they walk in the door."

Still, kids get cranky, tired, and sometimes tearful - even if their parents are in the room. (Pellegrino requires parents of the youngest children to accompany their kids to sessions.)

At this young age, she says, it's not necessary to structure classes around a specific lesson plan. But in six months, her students will have developed more discipline and be ready to take turns trying different activities.

Aimee Lyons, the owner of CrossFit King of Prussia, has offered a CrossFit class for kids ages 3 to 6 for about a year and a half.

An exercise system that promotes "broad and general fitness," Lyons said, CrossFit, at $100 for 10 sessions, is a high-intensity workout that focuses on a range of tasks including powerlifting and sprinting.

But for young children, Lyons says she focuses on "broad and general fun." The kids she works with follow scaled-back CrossFit routines based on those for adults. Many of their parents train at the center and were already bringing their children along.

Lyons says she's "absolutely" expecting an increase in participants.

"The more that's out there about the sedentary child and obesity, the more people will sign up," she said.

Gavin said she's seen younger and younger children struggling with weight problems, and fears of obesity might motivate a parent to sign a 3-year-old up for a fitness class.

Above all, Gavin said, parents should remember that it's also important to let their kids be, well, kids.

And for parents whose pockets aren't deep enough to pay tuition for a fitness class, it's not much of a stretch to design your own exercise routine for your child.

"When you put together an obstacle course, when you throw or bounce a ball, you're using some of those concepts," Gavin said. "Parents may be feeling intimidated, because we're used to being in a structured world. I would encourage parents to be creative and look at their child and skills they're interested in working on."

In Pellegrino's studio last week, Alli Taub, 32, of Center City, surveyed the room as her 20-month old daughters Libby and Paige clung to her legs.

They've been coming to gymnastics sessions for the past few weeks, and while it's taken the girls a little while to warm up to the class, Taub said they've enjoyed it so far.

"It's good exercise," she said. "And instead of climbing on coffee tables, they can climb here."