Customer Reviews

Leisa Hart's FitMama: Postnatal Workout / FitMama & Me

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Building on the success of the FitMama Prenatal workout, the FitMama Postnatal workout provides new moms with a challenging workout paced to individual levels of recovery. The workout consists of 2 cardio segments, a yoga segment, a pilates segment, and a stretch and relax segment.

In the introduction, Leisa Hart shows off her four month old baby and then sends him off for a nap to begin the workout. If your baby takes shorter naps than hers, you have the option of doing only one or two 10 minute segments. The cardio segments are fun and well-paced for a few months after delivery. There are many styles of yoga and I'm no expert, but after doing Iyengar style yoga for over a year I'm used to a slower more restful yoga practice which allows me to spend time in each pose. Her yoga segment seems more like a traditional aerobics strengthening and toning segment to me rather than yoga, but it's still worthwhile. The rigorous pilates segment uses a yoga ball (one of my few complaints about the program is that although she says the yoga ball is optional, none of the instructors demonstrate the segment without it.) Throughout the workout she offers modifications for different levels and for C-section and abdominal separation where appropriate, however all new moms should wait until cleared by their doctors to do the workout.

The DVD has some great special features, including:
* Workout to music without narration
* 2 bonus postnatal workouts (Coming Home and Bonus Yoga Ball)
* The entire FitMama and Me workout

Coming Home, the first bonus postnatal workout provides a gentle program that new moms can start doing on the first day post-partum, even while still in bed. The program builds gradually, adding more exercises for days 3-4, 5-14, and until your doctor gives you full permission to exercise.

In contrast, Bonus Yoga Ball is much more challenging, targeting those poor abdominal muscles need to get back in shape. Even Leisa Hart at four months post-partum gets out of breath on this one. My tummy hurts just watching it. As the title suggests, this workout requires the yoga ball.

Another special feature, FitMama and Me, is the reason I bought the DVD. How do you exercise when you can't put you baby down for even five minutes? Simple. You workout with your baby. It's not as comprehensive as the full Postnatal program and it's short, but it really is a workout and in many cases it may be the only workout a busy mom can manage. Because you lift your baby for the dance and tummy time segments, the workout gradually becomes harder as your baby grows. My baby and I love it, especially the baby dance segment. For this workout, you would probably want to wait until your baby has good head control.

The DVD format makes it easy to access any of the short workout segments (5 minutes or less):
* Dance With Me - a fun "baby dance" that gets mom moving using baby as a weight
* FitBaby - exercises for baby while mom sits on the floor
* Tummy Time - mom holds baby while doing abdominal exercises
* Quiet Time - mom does a few leg stretches while giving baby a massage
* Stroller Boogie - a demonstration of arm exercises to do while walking with the baby (I don't have an exercise band and my stroller doesn't handle well with just one hand, so I don't use this one).

This DVD is not quite perfect. For example, the Postnatal workout with music option should skip the intro and go straight to the first cardio segment. Also, I'd like more baby dance segments and stretching segments to provide some variety in the FitMama and Me workout. Also, you should look elsewhere for instruction on baby massage; this program simply uses informal rub downs (which is fine for this context). Even though there is room for improvement, this is a great DVD for a new mom from those first few days after having the baby up through the first year or so afterward.

I loved Leisa Hart's FitMama prenatal workout, so I went ahead and bought this DVD while I was still pregnant. It comes with a "Coming Home" workout that breaks you very gently into working out again, and then the "regular" workout is great for when you're ready to start more than just a gentle breaking in. I didn't do the "Coming Home" workout for very long with my son, and didn't bother with it at all with my daughter, but then, I didn't start until she was three months old. With the regular workout, what I like about it is the way it's broken up into segments, in case you want to do it in shorter bursts or just parts of it, or you can do it all together (which is generally what I choose).

If you did the FitMama workout, this one is extremely easy to follow as several of the moves are similar. However, even if you didn't do the FitMama workout, I still think this one would be easy to follow as the moves aren't overly complicated and Leisa does a very good job of demonstrating and explaining the moves. She also shows variations of the moves that some people may find harder.

I don't like this workout quite as much as the FitMama workout, but I think that's simply because after awhile, I outgrew the aerobics parts of it and got a bit tired of it, even with the variations to make it more difficult. It's definitely a wonderful transition DVD to start with after having the baby though - it's a great way to start exercising again and makes a wonderful stepping stone towards other workouts. And even despite feeling like I've outgrown the aerobics part, I find the pilates and yoga segments to still be good. So at least for me, I'm only very slowly outgrowing it.

The seperate FitMama and Me workout is also definitely interesting, though you need more space for it than you do the regular workout portions as it involves using your stroller and some fairly large movements when you take the stroller into account. I like the idea of involving your child in your workout, and my son got a real kick out of it.

This workout won't last you for forever, but then, I don't think it's really designed to either. Leisa Hart is also a very enjoyable and easy to follow instructor. It's definitely great for getting back into the swing of exercising after the baby is born, and the variations are good if you can't immediate start doing the harder moves.

I also did Leisa Hart's prenatal workout and felt like this was a good sequel. You get a good workout from the fat burn and the Yoga is good as well. I like that Leisa has an upbeat attitude without being annoying. She also gives good level adjustments for those starting out and this allows you to increase your intensity as your strength increases.

i don't have much time to get back into really great shape, i have my 20 year high school reunion coming up, and so this workout was perfect for me, short and sweet and effective moves that i felt right away. leisa hart was tremenedous in her buns of steel videos in the 90's and i love her fitmama dvds, this is great to do to then advance into other videos...i lost some weight, got encourage, and felt ready to do her sexy series videos(which are the bomb, i love them soooo much). this is a great dvd to have to do after having your baby and then aadvancing to other videos, you'll love that you did this before wasting time doing too advanced of workouts(i made that mistake with my first two babies). this is a great dvd!!!

This workout is great. I had a baby almost 4 months ago, and I started to work out to get rid of the baby weight about a month ago. I bought this and have used it for about 3 weeks, and I have already seen a huge improvement in my overall tone and shape. My abs and lower body are firming up, and my pants are starting to loosen around my waist. Leisa Hart makes everything easy to understand. She explains everything clearly and it doesn't take any time at all to get the hang of the exercises. I love the pilates portion, which is a great challenge after having a c-section. I don't think it's too easy. It's perfectly paced and laid out for those who are out of shape from having a baby.

I did Leisa's prenatal workout throughout my pregnancy and then moved to the postnatal workout after my son was born. I was back in my suits for work by the time my maternity leave ended. I got lots of compliments and I feel great (and sleepy but that is another story).
Leisa is very encouraging. There are different levels in the yoga and pilates portions so you can progress as you feel better. The workout is in short segments which is great for me because my son rarely lets me do the workout at one time. It is nice to do part now part later.
The 'extras' on the DVD are great too. The Mommy and Me is in sections too, my baby doesn't have the attention to do the whole thing at one time. He really likes the lying on my legs for the tummy exercises now. He knew Leisa's voice right away from the Prenatal video!
I also liked the additional workout sections that were part of the extras.

this is a great workout to slowly start getting back into action. I went to the doc and was told I could begin working out five weeks after delivery and i am doing really good three months later, and i owe it all to Leisa Hart. The FitMama Postnatal workout is prefectly paced, Hart is great at telling to watch your body and take it slow, she is precise and fun and motivating. I loved the funcky fat burn, and really felt good after each workout. i am now doing her Gym IN A Box dvd and love it, it is fabulous.....i highly recommend getting the FitMama Postnatal and go at your own pace, itf its not enought, get something else, but i think you'll love this.

BRIDGET----this is a great postnatal worout video...IT IS OVER 50 MINUTES IN LENGHT...you have 20 minutes of Funky Fat Brun as its called, 10 minutes of Fitmama Yoga, 10 minutes of Power Pilates, and 10 minutes of Postnatal Stretch & Relax...I really enjoyed the pace of this video, which allows new moms to slowly get back into shape. Leisa is encouraging and u can tell she knows what she is talking about, she said she's from a family of 10 and loves kids and loves exercising, and her energy really is motivating. This is a great postnatal video, and then I got going with her new CORE BAR and the FitToTheCore videos, they are great also. It all adds up that my body is now is better shape than before I ever thought of doign Fitmama workouts. I love this stuff.

I have used this workout a few times but I dislike the yoga and stretch portions mainly because, although she says "the yogaball is optional," she uses it almost the entire time and does not demonstrate other options. She says you can use a pillow but it was NOT a suitable replacement for me in the various positions she uses! I thought the aerobic portions were fun and I could easily increase the difficulty, which is important for the postnatal changes! It was easy to catch on to her moves if you are used to an aerobic or dance class.

After putting on more weight than I should have during my first two pregnancies, I was very lucky to find Leisa Hart's Fitmama Prenatal video and then the Postnatal video, because I was out of shape to start my pregnancy and slowly gained some flexibility during the pregnancy, unlike my first two pregnancies, and I was able to get into decent shape following Leisa's cues. This is a beginner to intermediate level video that gave me great variations. It is an excellent way to get moving, and I have really enjoyed Leisa's other great videos, she is fun and innovative, doing moves that you might see in a specialty class at the gym, but not on video, I really enjoy her style.