Customer Reviews

Expecting Fitness: How To Modify And Enjoy Your Exercise Program Throughout Your Pregnancy

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book has exactly what I was looking for in a pregnancy related exercise guide. I am an active woman, and I had been disappointed by other books that were vague or only gave 'beginning' exercise information. I think this book is appropriate for beginners or athletes - basically for anyone who wants to remain fit during pregnancy.

I appreciate the amount of detail and background information on muscles used during and after pregnancy as well as the role of hormones which helps the reader to unerstand why the exercises are important. The author seems to be operating with the latest medical advice regarding excercising in pregnancy. She also identifies the key exercises needed to assist in a smooth delivery and gives several different options for doing them (at a gym or at home and in several different positions in case your pregnancy is high risk or you are bed ridden).

This pregnancy workout book is the best I've seen so far. So many others I had looked at only addressed "normal" pregnancies. As a woman who had previously miscarried, I was concerned about my workout intensity level. This book addresses ALL pregnancies, from "normal, low-risk" to women confined to bed rest.

There is a very thorough discussion of what exactly is happening to your body during pregnancy and how those hormones affect everything from your joints to your heart. Also, there are great photos to help explain the exercises. For after the baby is born, there is a post-natal excersise chapter as well.

All in all, I think this book is wonderful and, for someone who thought they had read everything about pregnancy, I learned a lot!

I want to compliment on this desperatly needed book. The book is excellent. It is medically accurate, motivating and on point. I couldn't put it down. - Michelle Kosik MD

This book would have been quite different if it had been written by a woman who has actually experienced pregnancy and childbirth. While much of her research seems clinically accurate, there is no experiential connection on the part of the author. She doesn't know enough about what feels good and what feels wrong when you're pregnant. In addition, the author warns against certain Yoga positions (like downward dog and other inversions), which are not only a safe, standard part of prenatal Yoga practice, but feel really good when you're pregnant. Having not had the experience of pregnancy, the author is not adequately familiar with the extent of the abilities of a pregnany woman who is fit to begin with, and therefore spends much of this text warning against activities which are quite safe and beneficial during pregnancy.

Great book! Very informative. Although research is limited in exercise and pregnancy, the book references up to date information that is available. This will be a gift book for any of my friends that become pregnant.

This is the best most comprehensive book on pregnancy fitness that I have found. It is very thorough and detailed. The exercise descriptions were very easy to follow and I was easily able to do these exercises during my pregnancy. As a result, I have a healthy fit baby and I feel like I am back in shape after just 6 weeks following my delivery. These exercises and all of the other helpful advice in the book enabled me to lose all except 8 pounds of the 35 pounds I gained during my pregnancy in just a few weeks. There is also an excellent section on post partum exercise. Overall, I was very pleased with this exceptional book and would highly recommend it to all expecting moms.

I wasn't sure who this book was for. If you are moderately-to-very out of shape you won't really see yourself in these pages. Everything from the tone to the models to the testimonials (all from folks in excellent condition at the start of their pregnancies) seem tailor-made for the extremely fit crowd. However, if you are a regular exerciser, there's not much here that will be news to you. It's not a terrible choice for those who haven't done much strength training before, and there is some good info on adapting (or abandoning) some of the standards during pregnancy. There is a bit of annoying name dropping to get through-apparently, if someone trains B-list celebrities (Jane Seymore??), obviously that's credential enough... It's worth a look, but I wish I hadn't spent the $. Better to pick this one up at the library.

Just wanted to say how happy I was for purchasing this book EXPECTING FITNESS. In my opinion, it was the book I referenced and followed the most throughout my pregnancy. I recommend it to every friend who's pregnant or trying... My experince was not as most mothers had. While I was hoping to go earlier and have a leaner baby, I went two weeks late (as the book warned) and had a 10 pounder with a total body weight gain of 22 pounds! YIKES! He WAS lean and strong however, and I had the best blood chemistry any of the nurses on the floor had seen (they checked his blood sugar every two hours for the first day). I walked out of the hospital in my street cloths, feeling healthier and more fit than I had ever felt before. A week later, I weighed less that I did before I became pregnant. I am a sweep rower and rowed my last race at 5 months pregnant (we won by the way). My rowing club graciously loaned me an erg that I used religiously until the day before I delivered. I'm back on it, rowing hard to get my seat back!
The comments on endorphins were RIGHT ON! My delivery was intervention and drug free. Most of all, it was not painful (until 9cm), and even that was bearable, quite a change from my first delivery where I was out of shape and requested an epidural at 4cm. During this , my second labor, I briskly walked the halls until 7 cm , jumped into the shower until 8-9 cm and stood by the bed for the rest. It took me 6 minutes to push my 9 pound, 15 ounce, 22.5 inch son out! I TRULY BELIEVE I WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO THIS HAD I NOT BEEN IN SHAPE. THIS BOOK SHOULD BE STANDARD ISSUE TO ALL EXPECTANT MOMS!

As founder/director of Hypnobabies, I would love to see this as required reading for all pregnant moms and birth professionals. It is very much in line with the information we have in our course about exercise during pregnancy, and has a great deal of additional information about staying healthy and low-risk. There is even more information at ExpectingFitness.com!

What I most like about this book is Birgitta's commitment to exercise advice that is research-based and medically sound. That criteria is THE most important thing to any pregnant woman looking for information.