Customer Reviews

Kathy Smith - Pregnancy Workout

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I found Kathy Smith's Pregnancy Workout to be excellent--well worth the money. I usually stay away from home videos because the instructors are too perky, but I do not find this to be the case with Kathy Smith at all. In fact, she's very reassuring.

The choreography is not hard to follow at all, and the moves, while not being too challenging, definately give you a workout. What I found to be especially nice is the way the video is broken down. There is a 7 minute warm up, 3 stages of aerobics, which enable you to take a drink and catch your breath, and a moderate amt of leg work, arm work, and abdominals. I do find that I skip over the relaxation part. Kathy Smith also gives you moderations to moves, in case some are too challenging.

This video is so enjoyable that my 2 year old, 4 year old, and 6 year old can, and want to, exercise with me. I find this video very motivating and I look forward to doing it every morning when I wake up. I have never felt so good about my pregnant body before. In my opinion, this video is a MUST!

This video is the best childbirth preparation you can do! As an avid workout enthusiast, I wanted a video that I could safely do as my doctor advised no more jumping or step workouts after my 3rd month of pregnancy.

The Kathy Smith Pregnancy video has a low impact aerobic segment followed by a superior toning section; a postnatal mini-workout with exercises for after your baby arrives is also included. As my husband says, giving birth is a major physical event that you must train for! After doing this video religiously 3-4 times a week for the last 6 months of my pregnancy, I had a textbook labor and a wonderful delivery. I even escaped the dreaded low back pain and swollen ankles which I attribute to staying physically active with this video. I was able to utilize a lot of the moves (squats, etc.) during labor and delivered a healthy son without drugs of any kind! Because I recovered from the birth quickly, I was better able to cope with those exhausting first few weeks home with my new son. I highly recommend this video to all my pregnant friends!

I am currently in my 7th month of pregnancy and I alternate my Kathy Smith tape with my Buns of Steel 8 tape (with Madeliene Lewis). Though I prefer Lewis's style a little better - she never waxes "cutesy" about pregnancy in her mannerisms or her set design - I find enough valuable elements in Smith's video to balance the parts I didn't like.

There is a break in the middle of Smith's video for a "cute pregnancy rap song" - if you can't rap along, then you are advised to slow down a bit... if you already know you aren't exerting too much, fast forward the video or hit the bathroom - but DO check your heart rate - guidelines during pregnancy ARE different and many women will find they don't feel they are working although their heart rate has passed the maximum bpm recommended by ACOG.

Smith's workout (choreographed by Madeliene Lewis) has excellent variety of movement, but with enough repetition to keep it easy to follow. The things I liked most about this video are the toning exercises at the end of the aerobics session. It has a balanced strength training for upper and lower body, as well as some excellent abdominal exercises. I also appreciated the educational section at the beginning of the video where Smith outlines the goals for fitness training in pregnancy and precautions pregnant women need to take when exercising.

I used this tape 2-3 times a week from my 3rd month of pregnancy until a week before I delivered. I'm convinced that the workout helped me not only to sleep better and have more energy while I was pregnant, but also to push more effectively during labor and bounce back more easily afterwards. The choreography is basic, so it's easy to follow even if you're not an aerobics nut. It's also very varied, so you won't get bored. The women in the tape are all in various stages of pregnancy, and Kathy Smith uses them to demonstrate modifications to the exercises. The only part of this tape that I didn't care for was the relaxation at the end. I found Kathy Smith's voice too perky for zoning out.

This video is my #1 gift for pregnant friends. It includes excellent information and exercises for pregnancy. Although it is 10 years old, the exercises and aerobics are very helpful and don't seem outdated. The "energizer"/warmup is great for your aching back. The aerobics are a really good workout - I used it for several months of pregnancy right up until the day I delivered. It is easy to adapt the moves to be slower as you get "bigger".

The video also includes information from obstetricians about various pregnancy issues. Additionally, there are suggested Post-pregnancy exercises included at the end that are helpful and inspirational.

Although the video seems a little spendy, it is worth the money.

When I was pregnant I bought Denise Austin's pregnancy video and I was not impressed. She was a little too "chipper" for me. I then found Kathy Smith's video and loved it! I have always worked out but my pregancy really took its toll on me.....I was really tired all the time and gained alot of water weight. This video was perfect! She is such a wonderful instructor and calmly takes you through every move. It was just the right level of intensity for me during my pregnancy and I will defintely use it for my next one. I highly recommed this video to anyone who wants to stay in shape throughout her pregnancy!

I have the WORST morning sickness when I am pregnant, and I always loose too much weight. With my last pregnancy, my doctor put me in the hospital for too much weight loss. As soon as the morning sickness went away, I caught up on my eating, and then my doctor warned me that I was now GAINING to much weight (Geesh!) My friend lent me this tape. What can I say? It was wonderful. A great stress reliever. I looked forward to doing it almost every single night. And I didn't get bored with it - which was surprising. The rap was annoying on my moody days, and one of the workout girls was annoying, but fun to mock (I could justify that thru my moodiness). An excellent workout. I didn't gain any extra weight onto of what was expected. I recommend this tape to ANY pregnant women. It was WONDERFUL! and good luck.

I was in excellent shape before I got pregnant and continued my regular workouts for several months into my pregnancy. I bought this video tape to help keep me excerising as my belly got bigger and I became more clumsy! I think it a pretty good tape - a bit easy for my fitness level, but it gets my heart rate up and all-in-all, is a well-rounded, safe workout for pregnant women. I do supplement this with a step workout and some additional power-walking. I'm not sure it would provide me with enough of a workout on its own. However, I can reccommend it, especially for those with a mid-lower level of fitness.

This workout has been filmed during Kathy's second pregnancy. It includes a warm-up or "energizer" as Kathy calls it, as well as 3 aerobics segments which are fun and easy to follow. There is a separate segment for toning the legs, arms (light weights are optional) and even exercises for the pregnant women's abs. I've used this video workout in my second pregnancy and found it very helpful. It's true, it is quite old and could be dissmised as outdated (although I for one am more interested in what a workout itself has to offer rather than complain about the music or outfits), but I think the exercises and advice on the video are still standing today.Kathy looks great and is inspiring as always. And the workout works! It worked for me, kept me in much better shape with my second pregnancy than with my first (when I was younger and also did other pregnancy video workouts), it helped me understand better how exercise improves our pregnant body and the postpartum tips given by Kathy were appreciated as well.

I'm the kind of exerciser who usually stays in bed, thinking about what a great idea it would be to get up and exercise. When I do this workout, I feel so much better that I'm actually motivated to do it again the next day! Amazing!
I like the music and the moves (nothing too tricky). The fact that my 2-year old and 4-year old find it interesting enough to do with me makes it easy for me to do it in the middle of the day without having to neglect them while I exercise.
I usually don't do the active relaxation at the end, but I like everything else. The aerobic sections are upbeat and well-cued, get my heart rate up without wearing me out or making me lose my breath. The toning section is pretty easy for me, but I'm not trying to bulk up anyway, so I'm happy with the lower level of intensity.
I'm really glad she has the post-partum segment at the end--it's nice to know what is safe to do during the first several weeks (and I can't wait to be post-partum and try it out).
I really like Kathy--she acts like a grown-up, rather than like a spastic junior high cheerleader, the way some exercise instructors do. I would recommend this video to anyone and plan to start using some of her other videos after my baby comes.