MARYSVILLE – Baby Boot Camp is not for babies. That’s a misnomer. Babies aren’t the ones doing the cardio and strength training. It’s for their tougher-than-nails moms.

Anyone can work out at a gym. But these women work out with kids hanging all over them. They wouldn’t have it any other way.

Personal trainer Justine Stone has been putting on the classes at Cedar Field and playground next to the Boys and Girls Club for about two years. Stone said some moms don’t like taking their kids to a gym and having them watched by sitter. “Moms like having their babies right there with them,” she said.

Bri Carroll of Arlington said that’s exactly why she attends Stone’s classes.

“So many things require us to step away from our kids,” Carroll said.

She said she is setting a great example for the kids, “taking care of my body.” The children sometimes will join in. “They like to copy what we do,” Stone said.

Carroll brings her four kids plus two she babysits.

“They play Baby Boot Camp at home,” she added.

On one recent day, there were four adults and 11 kids. “We have a full crew of kids,” Stone said. “They get to play with their friends.”

Carroll has been part of the boot camp since Stone started it when her what-was-then youngest child was 3. She continued the classes when she was pregnant with her fourth.

“It helped keep the weight gain down, and I bounced back faster,” after the baby was born, compared with the other three.

Stone said she taught the class until right before she had her third baby and enjoyed the same benefits.

Motherhood is something all of the class members have in common. One is out on maternity leave.

Stone said numbers normally go up in the summer, but since moms “have a lot going on,” it can be hard to make time for the class.

She said she started the class because she wanted to be around other moms.

“There’s value in it,” she said. “We have a lot in common. You get the support of other moms.”

Stone sounds like any other trainer. “Let’s do one more set up pulses,” she said. But the moms can be challenged during the workout as they watch their kids eat snacks or rest. And having a kid hanging on to your leg while working out can feel just like weights.

“Stay here please,” one mom said, multitasking as one of her kids started to wander off.

The class meets Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:30-10:30 a.m. If it rains they go inside the Boys and Girls Club. Call Stone at 360-708-4817 or email justine.stone@babybootcamp.com.