Postnatal Pilates

Rating:
Summary: Good place to start getting back in shape
Review: I bought this DVD to get back in some kind of shape after the birth of my first baby. I had been on bedrest for 10 weeks prenatal and didn't have the confidence to go straight back to exercise classes without taking some time to get in better shape at home first.

I like how the DVD involves Baby to some degree, because it made exercise more approachable. There were 1 or 2 exercises I had to struggle with at first, which wasn't necessarily a negative for me as it gave me something to shoot for. In some places, the soundtrack seems to be a little off from the video, so you have to choose between listening and watching to follow along. Also, you can't fast forward through all the talking at the beginning because there are no chapters. Despite these problems, I found what I was looking for (an exercise program that I could do with my 4 month old to get back on track with weight loss and fitness) in this DVD.

Rating:
Summary: Good place to start getting back in shape
Review: I love this workout! My baby is 5 months old, so I wish I had gotten this workout earlier, due to the fact that you are supposed to use it for a 2 month old up to a 6 month old. It consists of classic pilates moves designed to tone your hips, abs and thigh areas. It also has some upper body moves where you use your baby as a weight to tone your arms. I enjoyed it, it was a fast workout but very vigorous. The instructions on how to do the pilates excersizes were very clear throughout. My baby seemed to like it too! Again, my only regret is that I wish I had gotten this DVD earlier in my postpartum days so I could have worked out with my baby more.

Rating:
Summary: Great workout for Mom and Baby
Review: I love this workout! My baby is 5 months old, so I wish I had gotten this workout earlier, due to the fact that you are supposed to use it for a 2 month old up to a 6 month old. It consists of classic pilates moves designed to tone your hips, abs and thigh areas. It also has some upper body moves where you use your baby as a weight to tone your arms. I enjoyed it, it was a fast workout but very vigorous. The instructions on how to do the pilates excersizes were very clear throughout. My baby seemed to like it too! Again, my only regret is that I wish I had gotten this DVD earlier in my postpartum days so I could have worked out with my baby more.

Rating:
Summary: Okay... but short and not for beginners
Review: The total work out time for this DVD is 20 minutes and as a pilates novice, hard to follow. For such a short DVD it seems quite rushed and doesn't explain positions very well.

Although, the interaction with my 12 week old is wonderful.

Rating:
Summary: Short workout
Review: This is a good workout for those of you who wants to try pilates and doesn't already have a pilates DVD. I bought this postnatal pilates DVD thinking it will be different than my regular pilates DVD. However, the exercises are the same as the ones on my regular pilates except it has one set of squats and one set of exercise to work your arms. The workout involves the baby by putting the baby on your lap during exercises like the hundreds and rollups. You work your arm by lifting the baby up and down. The squats are done by holding the baby close to your body. The baby is put aside for part the workout. This DVD is a waste of money for me because I could've used my regular pilates DVD and put my baby on my lap.