10 Minute Solution: Prenatal Pilates

I bought several pregnancy workout videos, and thought it would be a good idea to write a review of all of them at once: Amira’s Bellydance and Yoga for Pregnancy; 10 Minute Solutions Prenatal Pilates; Shiva Rea’s Prenatal Yoga; Perfect Pregnancy Workout vol.1; Summer Sanders’ Prenatal Workout. Let me start this by saying that before my pregnancy, my level of fitness was somewhere in between couch potato and world-class athlete – I usually worked out a few times a week, doing 20-30 minutes cardio and some light weight-lifting, but was not running marathons or anything like that. I wanted to maintain a similar level of fitness during my pregnancy, while building muscles and flexibility specific to labor and burning enough calories to offset my very increased appetite. Whether you get one of these or not, my overall advice is that working out during pregnancy really, really helps – it helped me stay more comfortable as I expanded and my center of gravity shifted, it helped me feel good about the changes that were happening to my body, and it helped prepare me for a relatively smooth and manageable labor and delivery (no medication).Amira’s Bellydance and Yoga for Pregnancy: This was one of my favorites, and I think in the long run it really helped prepare my body for labor; it also helped me to relax, stretch, and feel good as I got bigger and bigger. Some of the reviews here point out that it is not a very intense workout – that’s true, but I felt like there was plenty of stretching and strengthening, and through much of my pregnancy high intensity was not what I was looking for – the goal of this video is not to increase athleticism, but to help the body adjust to pregnancy and prepare for labor. Amira is a very encouraging coach, and much of the commentary is designed to be relaxing, informative, and comforting; I also appreciated that she looked like a real pregnant woman in the video, rather than a super fit, still skinny woman who just happened to have a bump. The bonus material – interviews and some dance performances – was not all that appealing to me, but I liked Amira’s intro statement about her own experience and the history of bellydance. The interviews might be more interesting/helpful for someone who doesn’t have sisters/girlfriends who have been through this before.10 Minute Solutions Prenatal Pilates: This was another favorite. I really like the format, where you can choose how many of the 10-minute segments to do, and in what order, and I felt like the workouts were manageable and well-suited to pregnant bodies. Towards the end of my pregnancy, I was doing the flexibility workout more than the others and often just one or two at a time, but for the first two trimesters, I would usually do three of the workouts at a time. I was somewhat familiar with pilates already, but not an expert by any means, and I found the workouts easy to follow (with a little practice needed the first few times); I think this would be good for those new to pilates, and the format means that even people who are not used to working out can start off with a manageable amount and work up from there. The instructor sometimes gives conflicting cues about breathing patterns, but generally she is clear, informative, and easy to follow. Seeing someone well into her 3rd trimester doing these exercises was very inspiring. Some of the workouts don’t require any equipment, but some require light hand weights and/or pillows.Shiva Rea’s Prenatal Yoga: I didn’t get this until near the end of my pregnancy, but the few times I did it made me wish I had it earlier. The pace and level of difficulty are definitely geared towards beginners, and much of the emphasis is on toning and stretching in ways that are particularly geared towards pregnancy and labor (kegel exercises and hip stretches). This is a very relaxing and slow-paced video – not a killer workout that will leave you sweating and panting. There are modifications for each trimester, but with many of the moves, I found I could do the 1st trimester version and didn’t need the modifications. It did require some equipment: a yoga blanket (? Not sure what this is – I just used a regular blanket folded up), a strap (I used the belt from a bathrobe), and a yoga brick (this was needed for some of the later trimester modifications – I just skipped it).Perfect Pregnancy Workout vol. 1: I had read great reviews of this, but was disappointed and only used it a few times. Basically, it was too strenuous for my pregnant self – the instructor is a world-class athlete and I guess this is the workout she had put together for herself during her pregnancy – nothing wrong with that, but her level of fitness and her fitness goals were just a little different from mine, and I really couldn’t keep up. That said, there were a few moves that I liked and did separately when I just needed something quick (like the labor squats). I did like it that kegels were built into this. If you feel you are up to it, it is an intense and thorough workout. The final section, on preparing yourself mentally by doing an intense endurance exercise, seemed silly to me at the time, and it still seems silly now that I’ve been through labor: 3 minutes of arm circles is difficult, but conquering this difficulty will not be enough to prepare you for making it through labor (which can be manageable if you are well-prepared!).Summer Sanders’ Prenatal Workout: This video was ok, and definitely offers a thorough workout, but it was not my favorite. It has three separate workouts, one for each trimester, and you can choose the complete version or an express version for each one (I think the complete version is just the express workout repeated a second time) – I almost always did the express version. The 1st trimester workout was way too hard for me (I wanted to spend most of my 1st trimester sleeping), the 2nd trimester workout was just about right in terms of intensity, and the 3rd trimester workout was a little too light (for me). The moves here are fairly traditional and will certainly tone major muscles groups without any frills; I would have appreciated more stretching. There were a few pregnancy-specific moves that I often did separately (labor lunges, plie squats). Summer Sanders and her trainer/sister-in-law are encouraging, but their chatter doesn’t hold up well and starts to get annoying after watching it a few times.

I received my three workout videos last week: "10 Minute Solution: Prenatal Pilates" with Lizbeth Garcia, "The Perfect Pregnancy Workout vol. 1" with Karyne Steben, and "Summer Sanders' Prenatal Workout." So far I have only used 10 Minute Solution twice, and the other two only once. I would like to update as I continue to use these videos but I wanted to give my thoughts so far.10 Minute Solution has five 10-minute workouts. I am a total newbie on pilates but I loved this video. I only made it through two workouts on my first try; on my second try I got through all five. In the future I will only use the first four, and instead of the flexibility one I will do my own stretches, just because it didn't seem to go as well with my joint pain as my own stretches do.Perfect Pregnancy vol. 1 is about 40 minutes long. Karyne gives alternate moves for intermediate and advanced, but I had to stick with the beginner moves, and it kicked my butt. Twice I even had to stop and rest because I could not keep up with her. That woman is amazingly strong. I really liked that she included a lot of ab work, because I feel like my abs need that desperately.Summer Sanders' workout was much milder, but it was still a good workout. She does a little bit of abs, but mostly focuses on arms and legs. The workout is about 45-50 minutes long. I didn't realize that you need a resistance band. I have one, but mine is a loop and on the video she uses a straight band with handles at each end. I was able to do the leg exercises, just holding my band lower, but for the arm exercises I used a pair of 3 lb weights instead, and that worked fine.I just wanted to say how amazed I was with the difference I felt in my own body after only one week of working out with these videos. I am 33 years old and 21 weeks along in my 5th pregnancy. I am six feet tall, so my ideal weight is between 150-160 lbs. I have sacroiliac joint dysfunction, which started in my first pregnancy, which just means that I get a lot of joint pain in the back of my right hip. This joint pain got worse with each pregnancy, until in my 3rd pregnancy I was sometimes unable to walk from one room to the next without pain. I have found that regular chiropractic appointments have helped a ton, and I walked regularly through my 4th pregnancy and that seemed to help too. But I have also noticed that my abs seem really weak, like they can't handle carrying another baby and I have felt like I really need a good ab workout.After my first pregnancy, I got down to 145 lbs. Woo-hoo!After my 2nd pregnancy, I stopped losing at around 155. After my 3rd it was 165, and after my 4th I never got lower than 173. So I have also been extremely concerned with this trend. I have gained too much weight during all of my pregnancies, and so far in this one I have already gained about as much as I think I should have gained for my whole pregnancy. So I hope that regular exercise will help me gain slower, as well as help my joint pain.After only one week of working out with these videos, I have already felt a huge improvement! For the first time in weeks I didn't gain a pound this week (yay!), and although I imagine I look exactly the same, I feel better, my muscles feel tighter all over, and I feel like I look better. My joint pain is very minimal, and most of the time I don't feel any pain at all there. I am blown away with how much the joint pain has improved with just one week of working out. And my tummy feels tighter, like maybe it can handle this baby after all! I feel healthier in every way. I am really excited about such amazing results in so little time.UPDATE 2/2013: I am now 33 weeks along. I have been favoring 10 Minute Solution, Perfect Pregnancy, and Knocked-Up Fitness with Erica Ziel, which I got a few weeks later. Over the Christmas holidays, we went out of town for a while, and I didn't exercise at all during that time, and I ate a lot more than I needed to, so at this point I am still heavier than I want to be. But I have been exercising consistently for close to a month since that break, and I am still loving these videos. I have been focusing on one video per week, which is nice to stick to something for a week but over the month I get some variety. I have been working out six days a week, and I have stopped drinking everything except water and sometimes milk, and I have been eating a lot less desserts lately. For the past few weeks my weight has pretty much stayed the same, and my back pain is very minimal. Also, I have been getting lots of compliments from my husband lately. He has noticed that my butt looks different than it has for a long time, and he says he doesn't think I have ever looked this good while being pregnant. I definitely feel better now and have more energy than I did during all of my other four pregnancies. The differences I can see are that my butt and the back of my thighs are still separate (rather than meshing together like they always did in the past), and I still have a little pouch of fat on each of my hips but it is shallower even than it was before I got pregnant, and in past pregnancies I always had a couple rolls above my belly, below my chest, and I do have one small one now but it's so much better than before. And my arms had started to get kinda floppy but now they are looking toned lately. And this is my first pregnancy without swelling in my feet and ankles. So I am still excited about my videos and hope to keep using them up until the baby comes, and then after she is born and I'm ready to exercise again, I will likely come back to these videos before going back to regular non-pregnancy videos.

I really like this DVD. Worth buying and doing these simple exerciseses during pregnancy. They help to prevent pelvic floor pain and other ailments, keeps you fit and energized. Just 10 min or combinations of several - perfect workout for a day. I had a problem getting up during at night, becauce of having pain in pubic bone area, and standing pilates really helps me to avoid that. In general, for me its so far the best pregnancy DVD. I have Erins DVD- which i put aside, and sometimes I do 40 min yoga by Tara Lee. If you decide to buy it- Just enjoy;))

Although this DVD had mixed reviews, I thought I would give it a go and I have not been disappointed. I started at 13 weeks and it is 'easy' if you are used to harder workouts, but I wanted to tone not get out of breath & sweat! The pace is low and the workouts are quite gentle, but its not supposed to be an actual aerobic work out. Its gentle enough to do the whole set in one go - I do the abs twice.For what I wanted it is perfect and I hope to be able to use it up to full term!

This is a great concept - 5 short pilates workouts - but I don't know how it has got such good reviews. If you haven't learnt pilates before, there is no explanation of the postures and breathing that make it worthwhile (and safe). The instructor just says 'tuck your pelvis under' or 'breathe in' but it's all quite quick and, as someone who has done pilates in the past, I found it quite tricky to keep up, whilst maintaining proper postures and breathing. So if you're an old hand (and can put up with the awful music) this might be good for you but otherwise I'd look for something else.

This is the 2nd pregnancy yoga/pilates dvd I have bought and I much prefer this one. Little bite size 10 min sessions which can leave you stretched, puffed and relaxed. I also like the fact you don't have to do it all you can choose the section of your body you want to work on. Also liked the post natal part (wish I was as fit as her!). I would recommend this to pregnant ladies. I am overweight and managed it so it gets thumbs up from me.

I've got a few pregnancy exercise DVDs but this is my favourite. It's handily divided up into 10-minute sections so you don't feel as though you need to do a long session if you don't have time. I generally do the warm-up and then one other section, like legs. If I've got more time then I'll do more than that. The exercises are easy to follow and I always feel a lot better having done them. I've been using this throughout my pregnancy and will do so up to birth. Highly recommended.