When Diane Vollmer was young, she learned that women never sweat. On her Catholic school's basketball courts, girls were taught to never dribble more than three times. "If we got our heart rates up, we were told to calm ourselves down, " she recalls. So the day in 2004 when she started working with personal trainer Denise Tryner, "I noticed I was sweating," says Diane. "I told Denise, thinking she would bring me a glass of water and tell me to lie down." Vollmer, 49, a low-income housing advocate and mother of four, pauses for a beat. "She threw a towel at me! Told me to keep moving!"

This rude awakening was part of the Rocky Mountain Fitness Challenge, in which nine moms agreed to spend six months striving to get in shape. And get in shape they did - they built muscle, shed pounds and had a great time doing it.
The program was sponsored by the Rocky Mountain News, who chose the nine women and put them into the tough but supportive hands of Denise Tryner. She ran them up stairs and hills. They lifted weights, performed dozens of push-ups and learned to do sit-ups on giant inflatable balls. At the beginning of each session, they would talk about how to manage the obstacles they faced; unsupportive husbands, junk-food-loving kids, stressful jobs. Then they would face down real obstacle courses for an hour - running, hurdling and sidestepping like the Denver Broncos at preseason training. They trained mostly outdoors, too, except on the few days when the Denver winter became too bitter.

Throughout, the group was measured for flexibility, fat percentages, aerobic capacity, strength, cardiovascular fitness and blood pressure at the Denver Athletic Club. These measurements, taken together, gave each women a "wellness age". By the end of the challenge, all of the women had dropped to wellness ages younger than their real ages. Although there was no prescribed diet, Denise shared information with the club about healthy eating. They kept daily food logs and e-mailed them among the group. They introduced one another to new foods like soy milk and whole wheat pita bread, and shared recipes and tips. If someone sent around a note that said she eaten a whole container of ice cream, for example, the others would write back that they'd been there, too, and that tomorrow was another day to start fresh. The support was "awesome," says Barbara Richardson, 42, a home day-care provider and mother of two. "Everybody was supportive when one of us was having a rough time, and happy when someone lost weight. I never could have lost the weight without them."

Patty Foxx, 51, a health-care recruiter and mother of two, agrees. "The support from the other moms was what made this possible for me. I had all sorts of physical issues when we started- high blood pressure, a thyroid problem, and abscessed tooth." But under the care of her doctors, she persevered. "The hardest part for me was mental, to not give up despite the hurdles that were constantly being thrown in my path."

La Shon Vincent, 38 a telecommunications account manager and mother of three, was thrilled to get turned onto other sports. She now rock climbs, bikes, and runs 5K races. "I hadn't been on a bike in years," she says.

"It was a wonderful experience to work with these moms," says Denise, herself the mother of two girls, ages 4 and 6. "Moms can tend to put their own needs on the back burner because they are taking care of everyone else. It was so rewarding to watch them learn to take better care of their bodies. As moms, too, we have a sense of how quickly time goes by. These women really valued the time they gave themselves to train, and they gave it everything they had."

Lisa Lowe, 46, an acupuncturist and mother of three, says, "When I came into the challenge, I felt weak and vulnerable. Denise didn't see me that way, so I wasn't. That was life-changing. Now, I can't think of anything I can't do."
 
 

Mother Knows Best: Can't-Miss Tips Diane:  Start today - don't wait. Even if you can move for only 10 minutes a day, do it. Denise:  Always set a goal, whether it is a clothing size, a race you want to run or a body-fat percentage. When you reach that goal, set another, more challenging one. The only way you'll know if you're making progress is to have a way to measure it.  Plan your meals and snacks for the week. This will help you stay on track and focused. Figure out the time of day that works best for your workouts and train yourself to stick with it. La Shon:  If you can't find a group like ours, at least get a workout partner. It will keep you motivated. Tell a few people - not the whole world - about your goals. They will keep you honest. Don't fixate on the number on the scale. Focus on how your clothes are fitting - that's more significant.