member of the month: Laura

14-Months Postpartum, Laura Barry is Fitter Than She Had Ever Been

The common story for many new mothers is to put their own health and fitness on hold for a year, two years, five years, as their children quickly become their number one priority.

And who can blame them?

Children gobble up all of the time, leaving little to no time, and especially energy, for mom to focus on ourselves.

Laura Barry, though, is proving it’s possible to do both. It’s possible to be a great mother, all the while continuing to carve out time for her own fitness.

Last year, Laura gave birth to her second daughter, Maeve, and simultaneously doubled down on her own fitness.

• In the last 14 months, since having Maeve, Laura has been a mainstay at Kea Athletics, consistently showing up five or six days a week.

  
  That being said, Laura explained she would not have been able to workout six days a week with a newborn and her three-year old Quinn if it weren’t for the culture at Kea.

For a number of months, Laura was on maternity leave and attended the 9 a.m classes with Maeve in tow, a class generally filled with other mothers with young children.

Being able to bring Maeve—who spent a lot of time in the Jolly Jumper hanging from the pull-up bar as Laura worked out—has been the biggest key to allowing Laura to maintain a consistent gym routine in the last year, something she never would have had the luxury of being able to do at a traditional Globo gym.

• “Just having someone to go to every day postpartum has been amazing,” Laura said.

And on Saturday mornings, Kea has often been a family affair for the Barry’s, as Laura and her husband Paul bring both of their children so they can start their weekend out with a sweaty workout.

“It’s never off the table to bring the kids,” she said of the family friendly environment at Kea.

• “For us, it’s a routine, and Quinn gets sad when we don’t go on Saturdays. She always asks, ‘Are we going to the gym today?’” Laura said.

She added: “And it’s great for us to get some grown up time and talk to adults who aren’t our co-workers and to start the weekend without TV.”

Laura credits the coaches at Kea with helping her navigate her fitness both during her pregnancy and postpartum, especially in the earlier days after giving birth to Maeve.

“I scaled workouts through my whole pregnancy and the coaches really helped me work through that,” she said. “And when I returned after having Maeve, at first I would come in and just do my physio exercises and stretch, and it was just a good place to go.”

Further, having a coach tell you exactly what to do “when your mental load is already through the roof as a mom is amazing,” Laura said. “You show up and you’re told what to do and then you go home.”

The result: Laura, who has been doing CrossFit since 2018—when she and Paul started CrossFit to get fit for their wedding—is more fit now than she has ever been, and she’s still only 14 months postpartum.

• “I went from being a middle of the road scaled athlete [before pregnancy] to keeping up with people I couldn’t keep up with before and lifting heavier weights,” she said, adding that she can do pull-ups and toes-to-bar and handstand push-ups, all things she couldn’t do prior to having children.

For Laura, though, who was never into sports as a kid, it’s about so much more than the PRs she is consistently achieving. It’s about exposing her children to fitness at a young age.

“Apparently my mom went to Sandcastle [Fitness Club] at some point and I never knew it. I went to daycare and never saw it. So it’s important for the girls to see us doing the hard stuff,” she said. “And hopefully it will get to the point where they want to do stuff like this, too.”

To other new mothers, Laura’s message is simple: It’s important to continue to make time for yourself.

• “Finding the outlet to have your own time is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your family,” she said.

And having Kea in her corner has made doing this that much easier.

• “At Kea, that time doesn’t have to be alone. You can bring your kids with you,” she said.

She added: “And there’s so much support here. The support has been unparalleled through my pregnancy and postpartum.”

written by: Emily Beers