Right after Samantha Torres gave birth to her son, Cameron, last March she decided to purchase a MYX bike—at exactly the moment when COVID-19 became a Category 5 global health crisis. Sam had worked out prior to giving birth and wanted to keep herself accountable for getting back in shape. But also, as a first-time mom weathering a pandemic, she needed to ground herself emotionally. “Sometimes you feel lonely, you feel insecure,” she says. “For me, working out helps not just my physical but my emotional state too.”
As well as leveling up her fitness, spinning clearly got Sam’s creative juices flowing. She came up with the idea to set up an Instagram page, MYXFitnessMoms, as a community for moms who … MYX. (And by ‘moms’ she means everyone, dog moms included!) “I wanted to create a place for other moms who felt the same way as me. I wanted them to know they’re not alone—because I felt like I was alone in the beginning,” she says.
And, of course as a place to share excitement about their new MYX bike and newfound workout goals!
Sam appeared on our radar when she started tagging us in her posts, and we’re excited to introduce her to the rest of our MYX fam. We reached out to set up a conversation between her and one of her favorite coaches, Christina, who’s also a mom of 2 — 3 if you count the family’s new Frenchie puppy, Georgi! Here’s what they talked about (with baby Cameron offering his two cents in the background!)
And hey, show us some love by tagging #MYXitup on Instagram, and you could be the next MYX member to talk one-on-one with your favorite coach.
Christina LaGrega: How did you find us? What drew you to MYX?
Sam: My mom actually had the bike first! She got it during quarantine, and then I decided to purchase it. I love everything about it — I love that the screen swivels so you can do a floor workout. I love that they’re not live workouts—I wasn’t interested in the leaderboard, and all the competition. That’s not what I’m about. I just wanted to work out.
So it was like a happy accident! And then where did MYXfitnessMoms come from? To see someone in our community come up with this themselves and then continue to build on that is pretty awesome. What was the thought behind MYXFitnessMoms?
Being a first-time mom is hard, and being a first-time mom during this pandemic was really rough for me. Emotionally, I was all over the place. My body isn’t the same as it was beforehand. For me, working out helps not just my physical but my emotional state, too. I wanted to create something for other moms who felt the same way as me in the beginning, so they know that they’re not alone.
I can relate to that — especially as a parent right now when we’re in such an unusual place. I think it’s really incredible that you created this community for people like yourself, like me, to come and share the positives, the negatives, our struggles, our victories. I love that you created that, and I love even more that you are a member of our family now!
So, where are the moms who are joining from?
I connected with someone who lives in Connecticut. There are a lot of Long Islanders here, also moms from Ohio, New Jersey, pretty much all over the place.
Do you have a lot of conversations with the other MYX moms? Do you get a lot of DM’s, or moms who reach out for advice, or just to say hi?
I have daily conversations with them. They comment on my Instagram posts or my stories. I got a lot of feedback on my latest post, which I addressed “to the strong moms, the depressed moms, the happy moms, the new moms, I see you and I support you.” They’ll say, Thank you so much for posting that! That’s how I feel and I’m so happy that we have each other to stay connected to.
I like to comment on their stuff, too, so they know I care. I created this as a community, to talk and make connections, not just to have a page.
Those are the ones that count! When I get messages like that, they make my heart flutter a little bit. So let’s talk about workouts! I know you’ve taken everyone’s workouts for the most part. Do you have any particular favorites, your go-to’s? Do you work out on the bike more, or the floor?
Being on the bike for me is more realistic. I live in a one-bedroom apartment and my bike is in my living room, so for me, to just hop on it is easier than a floor workout. It’s also easier to watch my son at the same time. So, I do a lot of spin workouts, but I do love your Hip Hop HIIT ride , it’s one of my favorites. I also love Garner’s Total Body Sculpt, and Justin’s 10-minute Bodyweight HIIT workout is great. I especially love that one for the floor because sometimes as a mom, you don’t have half an hour, you don’t even have 20 minutes! At the end of the day, just to squeeze a 10-minute workout in, that’s super for me. Everyone has 10 minutes in their day!
It’s great that you’ve got some variety there, both between bike and coach. As a parent, having those express workouts, those 10 or 15 minute little blasts, are perfect. Because granted, it’s very hard to fit 45 minutes into your day, as much as we say that we’re going to. Besides finding your way to your healthier self with your workouts, do you have any other self-care tips you’d like to share?
I try to eat healthy every day, but obviously it’s not always so easy…
I got my kids Wendy’s for breakfast, OK?! So girl, I’m with you!
Ha! Yeah, it doesn’t always work out. Actually, one thing I do do every day is put on some makeup and get dressed. I think it’s really important, especially for stay-at-home moms, because it’s just so easy to lie around all day in your pajamas. For me, that puts me in a huge funk.
I think there’s a lot to be said for that. It’s a mindset, like, I can actually get up and get moving and do something. I get DMs from other parents who are like, ‘When I see your Instagrams or I see you in the workouts, you’re all glammed up’… and I’m like, We have help with that! It takes some serious hands to create what you see on that screen!
So speaking of hands, I see you’ve got your hands full there! [Sam has picked Cameron up to officially join the conversation.] Do you have any parenting hacks that have worked for you that you’d like to share? Is there something you do that helps when you’re overwhelmed, or you’re just feeling in a rut?
For me, working out is my alone time, my unwind and relax mode—especially after my son is being fussy like this!
Even though this conversation is all about you, to celebrate you, is there anything you’d like to ask me?
I guess, how do you juggle everything that you’ve got going on? Just by looking on your Instagram, you do so much on a day-to-day...
