Work out while your kids play at Triple Jump Fitness in Portland

Rallying the motivation to go work out is hard as hell for most of us. When you’re a parent, it’s even more complicated. You’re juggling kid schedules, scrambling for a sitter, dishing out more money, and then wondering throughout your workout if the baby’s okay and if you remembered to pack your three-year-old’s favorite truck when you dropped him off.

I find it hard to remember to bring my gym shoes sometimes – and I only need to worry about me.

But for you parents out there who’d really love to get a good workout AND have a place where your kids are welcome and watched over (and having a pretty awesome time themselves climbing on everything), there’s Triple Jump Fitness in Portland.

Triple Jump Fitness has programs for kids (toddlers to teens, folks!) and personal training for adults, but we’re here to talk about the Fit Family Boot Camp.

Here’s how it works: You get an hour-long workout. Your kids get to play. It all takes place in the same big room, so you won’t be wondering what trouble the young ones are getting into behind some distant closed door. The boot camp is led by Kim DeMado, who co-owns Triple Jump Fitness with her husband Tim (and her arms are the kind of boot camp inspiration we all dream about).

During my visit to a Fit Family class, there was a months-old baby chilling out on the mat, a crawler exploring the room (at least the close-to-the-ground parts), and older kids climbing on wedges, hanging from rings, sliding down slides, and playing with each other. Sure, the baby got fussy. And near the end, a few playful girls had fun getting onto the mat with mom and pushing a squishy, cylinder-shaped bolster into her path as she stretched. They’re kids. And they’re part of the program.

It was also cool to see Kim casually pick up the baby and hold her at chest-level while she continued leading the class in deep squats. Or how all the moms in class seemed to keep an eye on all the kids as the class dish push-ups on a stability ball or lifted hand weights. (Dads are welcome to this class, too.)

Everyone looks out for everyone, said Kim. And everyone gets a solid workout, too (it is a boot camp, after all. There will be sweat. There will be muscle fatigue)!

Here’s the class description: “Each session combines strength training, cardio conditioning and torso development with the use of weights and stability balls. The classes include 4-minute ‘tabata’ intervals and progressive core exercises as well. You get all this while the kids play or participate at the Tumble Tikes gym.” Classes are for adults with kids in kindergarten and under.

Fit Family Boot Camp video

After class, a few moms and their kids hung out in the lunch room. The kids ate snacks while parents socialized. Turns out, socializing outside of the gym is a real part of this class. Parents come to work out, but then they realize they like each other. Grownup friendships are made! Kim even mentioned how sometimes they’d all get together without kids and do fun things like drink wine (oh yeah!).

Tripe Jump Fitness classes run in seasonal sessions. The spring session is running now, and the summer session runs July 10 to August 25. You can enroll in the whole session or join in later and pay a pro-rated rate. Take one class a week or two or three. Drop-ins are also an option.

Fit Family Boot Camp

9 to 10 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday
See the complete schedule: www.triplejumpfitness.com/schedule/

Here’s the Fit Family pricing:
Try a week at Triple Jump Fitness for $39 (includes one week of unlimited
Fit-Family & Core-Fit Boot Camp, small group training classes, plus a 30-minute
wellness consultation.)
$59 One Week of Boot Camp Classes plus FREE Open Gym 1 Week Pass*
$109 Monthly UNLIMITED Auto Renewal – PLUS Member Benefits!
$199 Ten Class Pass

Location: 275 B Marginal Way, Portland (to the left of Black Bear Medical & World’s Gym)
FMI: www.triplejumpfitness.com
Also: Check out their run club, which runs through August.