Customer Reviews

Leisa Hart's FitMama: Prenatal Workout [VHS]

5 star:		(225)
4 star:		(68)
3 star:		(37)
2 star:		(40)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

I own almost two dozen aerobic and strength training videos. Some offer challenging workouts. Others were a waste of time and money. Fit Mama is my first pregnancy video (although this will be my third child). IT IS EXCELLENT! Here is a summary:

INTRODUCTION - Leisa Hart first tells you what to expect in her video. She explains that the abdominal exercises have been modified to prevent the vertical muscles, the recti abdominis, from separating during pregnancy. Guidelines from the American College of OBGyNs are listed. Leisa recommends a frequency of 3 to 4 times per week, but completing one section at a time vs. the entire 60 minutes fit my schedule better.

SALSA (20 min) - The setting is bare: one large room with hardwood floors and two glass paneled doors in back. The participants are separated into groups. Leisa, in her third trimester, stands in the center. On her left are two women in their second trimester. Two women in their first trimester are on her right. All movements in the Salsa portion of the tape, such as the mambo cha-cha-cha, are acceptable for moms at any stage. I salsa on carpet and find it sometimes tough to slide. When Leisa introduces a new move, she performs it twice, then asks you to join her. Her arm cues make it easy to follow along. She frequently asks, "How do you feel?" so that you can monitor your intensity level.

YOGA FAT BURN (20 min) - This section helped ease my lower back pain. Leisa focuses on breathing techniques and stresses correct knee placement. In the Warrior position, the moms in the first tri put their hand on the floor, second tri put forearm to thigh, and Leisa places her hand on her thigh. But she suggest you do the position most comfortable for you. They complete 3 repetitions for each side.

LABOR AND DELIVERY PREP (6 min) - Yoga ball and strap are optional. I had neither, but performed the exercises, like Kegels, with no trouble. Different variations for the ab exercises match the stage of pregnancy.

PRENATAL STRETCH AND RELAX (8 min) - This sections includes cat stretches, breathing techniques, and positions for each stage of pregnancy. Leisa inserts helpful tips, such as the importance of laying on your left side to get nutrients to the baby.

I bought this video as the weather turned bitterly cold and I could no longer continue long walks outdoors. It is great for getting your heartrate up, breaking a light sweat, stretching and toning, and preparing for birth. The salsa section was a little hard for me to follow at first, but once I got the hang of it I found it a fun way to exercise. On the DVD, there are bonus sections about moves and positions to help you during labor, provided you are not confined to a hospital bed. I also like that once you know the routines, you can turn the narration off and just follow along with the music.

One note, the "yoga burn" section is not really yoga. I like this section, but if you're accustomed to practicing yoga you may find it to be quite different from your expectations. It is based on a few basic yoga postures, like warrior and mountain pose, but there is quite a bit of fast movement and no long, meditative poses.

I use this video alternately with "Yoga Journal's Prenatal Yoga" and find them to be excellent complements to each other. The Prenatal Yoga video has many quiet, meditative yoga poses (modified for pregnancy) to build strength and tranquility while FitMama is fast-paced and upbeat to build cardiovascular fitness.

I purchased and tried 3 prenatal fitness DVDs around the same time:

* Perfect Pregnancy Workout
* Prenatal Yoga
* Leisa Hart's Fit Mama Prenatal Workout

Here's how I thought they compared. (Note that I do yoga and walk regularly; while I enjoy dancing, I do not dance regularly. I'm not overweight.)

* Perfect Pregnancy Workout - 5 stars. Designed and narrated by a Cirque du Soleil acrobat (faint French accent), this video is my favorite of the three. The woman demonstrating the workout is about 8 months pregnant and in amazing athletic shape (visible muscle definition). The theme of this video seems to be preparing for birth and staying strong and fit. It has two sections: (a) workout and (b) instructions.

(a) After a mercifully brief cheesy earth-mother introduction, the yoga-based workout is vigorous yet flowing and straightforward, building incredible muscle strength, flexibility, and stamina. It includes squats, lunges, lots of ab work, lots of great hip stretches, kegels, lots of different arm strengtheners. At the end I am sweating, breathing harder, relaxed, and satisfied. The next day my muscles are sore (in a good way) and feel stronger. The music is world-beat without vocals, easy to exercise to.

(b) The instructions section is excellent as well. Animated anatomical graphics clearly illustrate diastasis, how to check yourself for it, and how to modify your workout to avoid further muscle separation, as well as exactly what kegels are. This part also explains in depth how to do the moves in the workout.

* Prenatal Yoga - 4 stars. Designed and narrated by a UCLA-graduated yogi, this video is my second favorite. Shiva is under 3 months' pregnant in the demonstration but has women behind her in second and third trimesters. The theme of this video seems to be relaxing and preparing for motherhood. It has three sections: (a) workout, (b) massage, and (c) interview.

(a) The workout is much less vigorous than Perfect Pregnancy, but includes squats, lunges, many spinal twists, kegels (no deep explanation, just metaphor), lots of different stretches. At the end I am sweating a bit, relaxed, and satisfied. The music is new-age without vocals. For some reason, Shiva does not pronounce the "h" in "exhale" which can be distracting. Also the narration gets slightly out of sync with the demonstration in a few places, which can be confusing.

(b) The massage section is fabulous if you have a partner willing to watch it and give you one! Great techniques for feet, legs, back, and neck.

(c) Shiva explains her story in the interview, how her father named her after an Indian god, how she took up yoga in college, etc.

* Leisa Hart's FitMama - 2 stars. I bought this on Amazon's recommendation and I'm sorry I did. My biggest gripe is that this video doesn't focus on smooth continuous deep breathing, unlike the other two DVDs. Leisa is a perky actress who does infomercials. She is 8 months pregnant in this but her body looks very different (thin, wiry) compared to the woman's in Perfect Pregnancy (athletic). The theme of this video seems to be feeling better (sexier) about oneself while pregnant. It has basically two sections: (a) workout and (b) bonus stretches.

(a) The workout is much less vigorous than Perfect Pregnancy yet goes at a faster, more erratic pace than either of the other two videos. It has four parts: salsa dance, "yoga fat burn," labor and delivery prep, and prenatal stretch and relaxation. The dancing is about 8 moves repeated, with a few squats. I feel foolish and bored doing this. The yoga fat burn is more aerobics than yoga, includes ab work, squats, no twists, never holds any pose for long, is repetitive. Labor and delivery prep includes kegels (no real explanation), many boring arm swings, ab work. Prenatal stretch and relaxation includes leg stretches, ab work, is repetitive. The music is salsa, soft rock, and world beat without vocals; very good workout music, loud in places.

(b) The bonus stretches are the best part, but are buried under Special Features (the DVD doesn't seem very well organized). These include leg, back, hip and shoulder stretches actually held for several seconds, squats, plenty of rapid boring arm swings.

All three videos show women in different trimesters doing the exercises and mention appropriate modifications. All three videos explain how to do the exercises safely and how to recognize warning signs of overdoing it.

If you're a yoga gal like me and you want to buy just one prenatal yoga video, get Perfect Pregnancy. If you want your partner to give you a great massage too, get Prenatal Yoga.

I was extremly happy to get this video and see that it is as good as the reviews are. Most importantly, it's a new video, unlike so many of the pregnancy videos I've bought(and sold in garage sales or ebay). Leisa Hart was the perfect picture of pregnancy. She was beautiful to watch, graceful in her moves, and spunky in her salsa dance...I hope I can move like that when I'm in my last month carrying my lil baby. The other videos I've used just were boring, old, or not well thought out. It was apparent that Hart knew what she was doing. Since she has starred in 25 exercise videos, she knows how to interact on camera, which so many video instructors cannot do. I loved her style and personality, but most importantly i liked doing the exercises. Working out to a video has to be fun or else you'll never do it again, and Hart made this fun by mixing it up with some salsa dance and a yoga toning set that was great for my problem areas, and then her labor tips and the stretching was so good, my body needed it. I loved this, and can't say enough about how good it is to get a quality workout that was made recently...I can't wait to see how see looks in her postnatal video, I bet she'll look great, that little Buns of Steel woman! lol :-)

Incredible, that's how I felt after workout out with Leisa Hart the very first time, and now after doing her Fitmama video several times I feel even better about myself and my pregnancy. She incorporates such positive energy into her workout, I loved her style of leading the women throughout the workout and I felt like I was really being talked to by leisa, she is very encouraging and talked about safety during working out and about labor and delivery tips that helped her the first time(she looks incredible during her second pregnancy). It's hard to stay motivated while prego, and Leisa seems to have a knack for saying the right things that women want to hear, she's not annoying or overly perky like a denise austin or richard simmons, she's a tony robbins leader in a christie brinkley or heather locklear body. I really looked up to her when she hosted different infomercials and liked her products, but I really love Fitmama and can't wait to ge to delivery and see how much stronger I will be by doing this great workout.

EXCELLENT CHOREOGRAPHY IN THIS PRENATAL WORKOUT VIDEO...THE INSTRUCTOR LEISA IS VERY PREGNANT, I BELIEVE NINE MONTHS, AND SHE VERY POWERFULLY LEADS A GROUP OF OTHER PREGNANT WOMEN THORUGH A SALSA DANCE ROUTINE THAT WAS 20 MINUTES AND NOT COMPLICATED, THEN A YOGA FAT BURN THAT TONED THE BODY(MAINLY THE HIPS AND THIGHS AND BUTTIE) WITHOUT ANY SPIRTITUAL MUMBOJUMBO AND THEN SHE DID TWO REALLY NICE SEGMENTS ON LABOR AND DELIVERY PREP AND THEN A STRETCH/RELAX SEGEMENT. ALL IN ALL, THIS VIDEO WAS FLAWLESS. THE MUSIC WAS GOOD, AND THE OTHER 4 WOMEN OR THE CAST WERE COMPRISED OF FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD TRIMESTERS, AND ANY MOVES THAT WARRANTED IT WERE MODIFIED FOR YOU, WHICH WAS HELPFUL, YET NOT OVERLY TALKED. THE INSTRUCTOR DID NOT OVER TALK OR OVER STATE ANYTHING, SHE WAS IMPECCABLE IN HER CUEING OF THE MOVES, WHICH MADE THE DANCING VERY EASY. I REVIEW LOTS OF VIDEOS FOR MAGAZINES, AND NOT MANY, MAYBE 1 PERCENT OF THEM, DESERVE 5 STARS, AND FITMAMA GETS MY VOTE FOR BEING A 5 STAR WORKOUT FOR PREGNANT WOMEN. MY BABY WILL BE ENJOYING THE MOVES WITH ME AS I AM ONLY 7 WEEKS PREGNANT, SO I WAS GLAD TO REVIEW THIS FOR ANYONE CONSIDERING A PRENATAL FITNESS PROGRAM, I RECOMMEND IT.

I'm not usually one to rant and rave about the quality of something, but I've had my FitMama video for a few months now and it is absolutely been a godsend with my pregnancy. I feel as good as I could feel being fat and pregnant, but the funny thing is I'm not as fat as I was with my first 4 kids. Leisa is very powerful, she's almost a female Tony Robbins she is so encouraging. She's not annoying or over sassy, she's just good at what she does. I was so happy to find this video, I've used her Buns of Steel videos from years ago, but had no idea what happened to her and I see, she's been busy starting a family and staying in great shape. This was a great video and I wish I could personally thank her, she's made this pregnancy seem so much easier with all of her tips and pointers, and the incredible workout that I like doing, which is almost an oxymoron, how many people really like working out? Ok, i don't hate working out, but it can be a drag at times. FitMama is always a refreshing workout, I fel so good after doing the stretching portions. God bless America, and people who protect us! And God bless people who stay in shape and make great videos, thanks Leisa!

It's kinda funny, my ob/gyn has the same due date as me, and she absolutely loved this workout video. She goes to the gym and is a health nut, and she's been on me to do something for my body(which is too large to start with) because I'm getting too sedentary, so she bought some extra copies of FITMAMA and let me use one to give a try. Well, I gave hers back and bought my own, I loved it, it's exactly what the doctor ordered! That sounds like a cliche, but it's true. THis is the perfect pregnancy workout for me, I'd probably do it after my baby too, unless there's a postnatal FitMama video. I had never used videos beofre, but I will now, as I can do it anytime. Plus, this instructor was really good. I went to her website leisahart.com and see that she is a fitness celeb, she's got 25 other videos to choose from, which I will definitely try. I went ahead and got her MBC Yoga videos, as they sound like something I could use since they also helped her. THis FitMama video is the bomb, I loved it, it was great advice from my doc, and I'm sure others will want to get it.

This video is great! The instructor is in her last trimester of pregancy and participates in the whole video, which gave me confidence that the workout is completely safe. She also has class participants in the first trimester and second trimester in the video.

There are some modifications for each trimester, but they are very easy to follow, just keep your eyes on the class participants that are in the same trimester as you are.

There are two main 20 minute workouts. One is a traditional Aerobics workout (called Salsa Dance) and the other is a yoga style workout. This gives you the flexibility to alternate between workouts. Or early in your pregnancy (or later days when you have a lot of energy) you can do both workouts back to back for 40 minutes of exercise.

After the two main workouts there are two stretching sections (one for toning muscles for delivery and one for traditional cooldown). Again, sometimes I have been alternating these and sometimes I run through both. These are 6 minutes and 8 minutes long.

I also appreciated the fact that the equipment you need for this workout is minimal. They call for a towel or sticky yoga mat, a pillow, yoga ball (which I ended up substituting to another small pillow), and a yoga strap/another towel. So I was able to get started quickly and fully participate.

I have been participating in aerobics classes for many years on and off and I agree with some of the other viewers that this is not the most strenuous workout out there. However, I find it very challenging at my 5th month of pregnancy. And you can do the two main workouts together for more challenge. So it really suits my needs, and I think it will suit the needs of the majority of pregnant women.

The instructor is also very helpful and encouraging.

I also purchased Fusion Pilates by Jennifer Gianni and did not like that video at all and will be selling it. I think you must be very experienced in Pilates before you were pregnant to be able to follow and get a lot out of the Fusion Pilates video.

I have been working out for a number of years now and I am pregnant for the second time. For my first pregnancy, I worked out at the gym, solely. For this one, I am preparing to move into a new home and I already have a 2 1/2 yr old so getting to the gym is not as easy as it used to be, but I want to keep in shape with this pregnancy as I did the first. This video is so REPETITIVE it is unbelievable. The yoga portion literally is 3 moves that you repeat for 20 minutes!! After completing the video for the first time, I didn't feel as though I worked out and felt like I still needed to go to the gym. The Kathy Smith video is a much better purchase for someone who has been working out and who likes variety, rather than 3 repetitive moves.
This video is only for women who are just starting to work out. It is definitely not for someone who is used to regular aerobic activity and/or weight training.