Amelia Bartkoski and Patrick Morton are new parents, but they’re successfully balancing diaper duty with their fitness regimens at PUSH Gym.
When Amelia was pregnant in 2023, it wasn’t uncommon to see her working out as part of a group HIIT class. She got her reps in up until a week before her caesarean delivery in November 2023. And once their son was born, Patrick would bring him to classes, keeping an eye on his infant while he lifted weights.
“He loved it,” Patrick said.
Years before their family blossomed, the couple got together in Kansas City, then moved to Denver about seven years ago. They married and have lived in the city’s Baker neighborhood for over four years. The pair learned about PUSH online and started classes in October 2022. They said the sense of community kept them coming back.
Coaches taught pregnant Amelia exercise modifications. She believes keeping up with her fitness helped her through the pregnancy. “It definitely made the rebound much easier after delivering,” Amelia said. Ten weeks postpartum, she was back in the gym, doing specialized training with Coach Kara McKenna.
Now, the couple’s son is 17 months old. Making time for workouts takes “a lot of coordination,” Patrick said. “We’ll have to kind of tag team it.” They’ll discuss how to split their daily duties, so he can attend a morning class, and Amelia can go in the afternoon. On Saturday, she takes the 8 a.m. class, and he works out in the 9 a.m. class — and they hand the baby off at the front entrance of the gym.
They say taking 45 minutes as self care is crucial to their health. “Obviously, this is good for my physical health,” Amelia said, “but my mental health relies on getting physical activity.”
