There are loads of exercise classes aimed at new mums and babies in and around Glasgow. You’ve got buggy fit, pre- and post-natal yoga classes, post-natal circuits and postnatal spin classes in several Glasgow Life venues. These are all great, and can be incredibly beneficial. But they are all aimed at people with babies; toddlers at most. There comes a point when it’s not quite as easy to take you walking, talking tiny humans along to these classes anymore.

Most gyms don’t allow kids in younger than age 14. There are a few places who do though, or at least who have creche facilities for young kids while you get a work out. I’ve been a member of a couple of them in the past 10 years of having kids. My absolute favourite is Smart Gym CIC, located in the Wedge building just a few minutes away from Silverburn.

This place has been specifically built with parents in mind. They have a creche service at certain times which is free to use with your membership, while older kids can work out with their parents.

Smart Gym is a small gym but it does a lot with it! There are all your regular cardio machines and plenty of free weights to get any workout done. There is a kitchen & seating area where you can feed your wee one have a cuppa once your workout is done. They have a room off the main gym area with a barbell and heavier weights that you can book if you want to have that space for yourself. This particular space looks right into the kids area, which for us is their pièce de résistance.

In the kids area there are smaller foam versions of some of the gym equipment. There’s a small climbing wall, some bars for kids to climb up and dangle from, building blocks, a little ball pit for the younger ones, drawing stuff, and loads of toys. There is also a mirror that doubles as a screen so they can watch octonauts or hamsters going through mazes or whatever they fancy while they draw or play. It’s a brilliant space and most of the time it lets me get a workout done, checking in on them between sets.

Sometimes I work out in absolute peace while they play in there happily for the hour. Sometimes they like to come do the workout with me, so I just get them to join in whatever I’m doing but with smaller weights. (Kids do have to be supervised if they’re using the gym. I always make sure mine are doing what I’m doing because if I didn’t they’d be flying off the treadmill in the background…) But anyway, they both absolutely love it.

The Cost

The prices for Smart Gym are very reasonable. For a no contract monthly membership it’s £22 per month for 1 adult and 1 child, and £38 for 2 adults and 2 children. If you pay in advance for 3, 6 or 12 month membership the cost is less again.

You don’t need to book to head in and use the main gym but you do need to book classes and the creche. I always book the kids into the ‘soft gym’ area when I’m booking the individual weights room, just in case.

The Verdict

This is a great wee family oriented gym. It’s not huge like some of those bigger gyms, but it’s also not intimidating at all. I’ve always had to go to the gym at really awkward times in the past because I had to go without the kids, but now I can just head along and they happily join me!

The Details

You can visit the gym website at Smart Gym CIC. All the info and contact details are on there.

If you aren’t ready to do it by yourself and are looking for a PT, there are some wonderful personal trainers around Glasgow who offer specialised training for women; during pregnancy, post-natally or at any other life stage. I highly recommend the Mighty Mama Coach for this as she helped me recover and get back to exercise after two c-sections, and taught me everything I know about lifting weights.