J’AIME JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022

family in Shropshire, and John, whose family lives in
Derbyshire, decided to make the move back to the
Midlands to be closer to their families in time for the
arrival of daughter Ivy, now 16 months old.
The couple settled in Lichfield as the perfect midpoint
between their two families, as well as being easily
commutable back to London for John’s work.
When baby Ivy arrived in September 2020, Nicola
wanted to find a way to involve her and her baby
friends in her fitness classes. She realised that, as a
new parent, it can be difficult to carve out time away
from baby to attend a traditional fitness class, but that
most baby classes are, understandably, focussed on
baby’s needs rather than the needs of the parent.
The brand of pilates Nicola teaches is Fitness Pilates,
which was founded by UK fitness personality Rachel
Holmes. Rachel also pioneered the Buggy Beat idea
- which Nicola decided would be the perfect way to
incorporate Ivy into her work.
Buggy Beat is a cross-training class for parents and
babies to attend together. Incorporating elements of
cardio, tabata and pilates, it’s a class where parents
can work out with their babies in tow. The initial run
of Buggy Beat classes started last August in Lichfield’s
Beacon Park.
While Buggy Beat is a fitness class for parents, it’s
completely baby-led, with feeding, changing and
entertaining the little ones all part and parcel of
proceedings.
“It’s all about having fun; you get active but you can
work as hard as you want,” says Nicola. “It’s a class
for the parents, not the babies, but the babies are
always well entertained by their parents prancing
around in front of them.
“And I found that in other baby classes, especially
during the pandemic where you had to be two metres
apart from other people,
that you’d go to the
class, do the class and
then go home, and you
hadn’t really spoken to
anyone.
“I wanted to make
Buggy Beat more of
a social thing, we’re
here for the parents.
When we were outside
there wasn’t the issue
of keeping distance, so
we have a section where
we walk around doing
walking lunges and I try
BUGGY BEAT IS A CLASS AIMED AT ALL PARENTS AND
CARERS TO ATTEND WITH THEIR LITTLE ONES
to encourage everyone to have a chat at that point.
“Then we always have a coffee afterwards; in the park
we’d go to a local cafe afterwards.”
But as winter hit and temperatures plummeted,
Nicola realised that outdoor classes wouldn’t have as
much appeal. So she found a temporary indoor space
in Mere Green, before moving to Buggy Beat’s new
home for 2022 in Shenstone, at the Cooper Room on
Main Street.
While the class may be indoors, there’s still plenty of
room for those walking lunges - and the onsite kitchen
means all attendees get to enjoy a cuppa and a chat at
the end, once they’ve caught their breath.
Under the growing WIMBO Fitness brand, Nicola
also offers online Fitness Pilates classes, with two
20-minute classes each week. These are pre-recorded
in Nicola’s home fitness studio to make them
accessible to the busiest of clients, and cost just £15
for a five-week course.
Nicola relishes life as a busy working mum; as well as
juggling her fitness classes with looking after baby Ivy,
she still teaches one day a week at a private primary
school in Derby.
“I love being busy,” she says. “It’s how I’ve always
been, and I’m looking forward to sharing my
knowledge and passion for exercise as WIMBO
grows.”
Nicola runs Buggy Beat classes at the Cooper
Room, Main Street, Shenstone on Mondays
from 9.45am-10.30am and 11am-11.45am.
The next six-week course runs from February
28 to April 4 and is priced at £36. For more
information follow Nicola on Instagram
@WIMBOFitness and search for Buggy Beat
with WIMBO Fitness on Facebook, or visit
wimbo-fitness.mailchimpsites.com
50 www.jaimemagazine.com