Heavy Labor

Danette Goulet

They teach the toughest, hard-core weight aerobics and turbo

kickboxing classes around.

But dynamic instructing duo Terri Perez and Christy Northrop are no

longer quite so lean and mean. They are less ripped and buff, and more

round.

But their physiques are still awe-inspiring to their students.

When workout fanatics at 24-Hour Fitness in Costa Mesa really wanted

to push themselves, they took a class with these two pregnant ladies.

Just two weeks before her due date, Perez finally took a short

breather from the intense Body Pump class she teaches with Northrop. Last

week, Perez gave birth to her daughter, Mackenzie, who kicked her way

into the world four days early.

Northrop, six months pregnant, is still leading nine classes a week.

Seemingly oblivious to her delicate condition, Northrop performs

roundhouse kicks, lightning-quick jabs and uppercuts at her classes.

Like Perez, she will stop turbo kickboxing when her doctor decrees

that she must.

“I’m going to stop at 30 weeks, so I have four or five weeks left

probably,” Northrop said. “Luckily, my doctor takes classes from me. She

said I can go until then.”

Contrary to how it may look, Northrop said she has begun to adjust her

workout, taking care not to harm the baby or herself.

When she leaves kickboxing, Northrop will teach her barbell aerobics

class for as long as she is allowed by her doctor and husband, Berkeley

Northrop.

“I keep putting the brakes on,” he said. “I’m the voice of reason --

I’m making her taper off.”

Northrop, however, is used to taking her cues from Perez.

The two were paired several years ago when they went through the

teacher training and certification program. Since then, they have taught

several classes together and become the best of friends.

Perez and her husband, Mitch, had been trying to have a child for

about nine months.

“We found out I was pregnant at the end of October,” Perez said.

“Christy is just 15 weeks behind me.”

Like Perez, Northrop also is having a girl. That is purely a

coincidence, although their simultaneous pregnancies are not.

“She got pregnant, then she talked me into doing it,” Northrop said.

“They had been trying and once she found out, I planned mine. You kind of

want someone to go through it with. We thought it would be fun to have

babies together.”

The two couldn’t be more excited to share their first pregnancies with

each other.

What used to be constant talk about what they were going to do at

their next aerobics class turned to discussions about trimesters and baby

names.

The two joke that they are breeding the next generation of workout

instructors -- the new and improved models.