Body By Trimester- Postnatal Edition

First of all I have to say that I have never written a review on amazon before (although I use amazon reviews before making just about any purchase :) I have purchased the majority of my workout dvds from amazon.com and these dvds range from Jillian Michaels to Insanity to Gaiam yoga dvds. I LOVE exercise and have exercised for about 10 years before becoming pregnant. I also love running, biking, and swimming as forms of cardio. I also have some hand weights and other equipment at home that this dvd requires.After I became pregnant for the first time, I quickly realized how I was unable to keep up with my typical Jillian Michaels intensity level workouts. I instantly panicked because I thought I wouldn't be able to do anything for exercise during pregnancy since I felt so rotten. I was depressed reading other women's posts about how they continued with their normal exercise all through their pregnancy. I thought something was seriously wrong with me! And I was always worried that I was going to hurt the baby somehow.I read some reviews about pregnancy dvds and I bought some such as Summer Sanders prenatal workout (which i did once and didn't really care for it) as well as Erin O'Brien's workout (also did once and didn't care for it). I didn't find this dvd until later in my first trimester and all I can say is I wish I had found it sooner!! If I could personally write Joy a letter of how grateful I am she produced such a great prenatal workout, I would in a heartbeat. The quality is great, the intensity level is perfect (for me at least) and I never once got bored. I thought maybe since she only had 2 workouts for each trimester including an express workout for each trimester that I might get bored, but that never happened. Right when I felt like I was getting a little used to the workouts, I graduated to the next trimester workouts! Joy is upbeat and encouraging, and I look forward to these every morning. I actually rotate her workouts 1 and 2 every other day, but I do the express one each time so it makes the workouts a little longer. I personally like to workout longer than 30 minutes a day, so when doing them together it gave me about a 50 minute workout. I am in my third trimester now so I may be getting more tired and just doing 30 minutes a day! On the other days that I don't do her dvd, I usually use my spin bike at home or go walking on the treadmill as I stopped being able to run early in my pregnancy.I'm not sure if anyone else has explained how the workouts are structured so I will try and do it quickly. The workouts are structured in about 3 (sometimes 4) segments and also include a cool down that has abdominal toning and labor preparation exercises (for the third trimester). You do 2 sets of each exercise and they are mostly compound exercises. For example, she'll have you do a lunge forward with a bicep curl, and then a shoulder press when you step back. After doing that on each leg (Joy guides you in the number of reps), she'll have you do some sort of cardio such as squat kicks or squat hops (she gives the option to modify and skip the hopping). Then you repeat that circuit again. Once you do it twice, you move on to the next set of exercises. It is perfectly paced, although I did have to pause it frequently to catch my breath and drink water. She tells you to stay between a 4 and 6 intensity level (if 10 is the highest). So if ever I felt it was more than that, I would pause it and take a little breather :)If I could give this dvd more than 5 stars I would. I will recommend this dvd to everyone who asks me about exercise during pregnancy! I will even use these after the baby comes, because I feel like they will ease me back into my normal routine. I know Joy has a postnatal workout, which I will actually be purchasing as well. I hesitated at first to buy this dvd because of the price, but you actually get 3 different dvds. It is also WELL worth the money. Please don't hesitate to buy this dvd.... you won't regret it :) As far as weight gain goes, I am almost 30 weeks pregnant and I have gained 15 pounds. I don't know if that's high or low (I try not to obsess about the scale) but I can attribute it not being overwhelmingly higher to using Joy's dvds. I didn't only do them for weight management tho. I've always struggled with body image issues (what girl hasn't!!) but I wanted to stay in shape and stay healthy for the baby. Labor (from what I've heard) is the most intense and physically challenging event of a woman's life, so why wouldn't we train for it just like we would anything else?If you like exercising with weights and circuit style training, you will absolutely love this dvd. I guarantee it :)

My fitness level prior to getting pregnant again was what I would consider “intermediate.” I did moderate weight training about 3 times weekly, mixed in with some of the Jillian Michaels circuit DVDs on varying days. In summary, I was probably more fit than the average 35 year old, but I was far less fit than someone who regularly does things like running, biking, Crossfit, serious weight training, etc.I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep the exact routine once I was pregnant. With my first pregnancy, I had a barre method prenatal DVD which was not really my style. I can say that I’ve really enjoyed the Joy Southworth DVDs thus far. They are like a mild version of the Jillian Michaels circuits that I used to do, which is more my style than barre. Joy incorporates light strength training with light cardio, plus some abdominal training. The workouts are not particularly long either, which is motivating, especially on those “pregnant” days when you feel a little extra tired. I kept with my regular routine for the first trimester, so I cannot speak for how the first trimester exercises are, but I have done it through my entire second trimester and been quite pleased.That being said, I do think that someone with a more advanced fitness level would be disappointed by these workouts. They will probably not be adequate enough for the more seriously fit. I personally do them 2-3 times per week, and do some light weight training on my own about 2 additional days per week. The DVDs are great for beginners too. I don’t agree with some of the reviews on here that say the workouts are too hard for beginners. There is an option to do the exercises without weight, and I really feel there is room to modify and lighten the exercises where necessary. Yes there are some challenging moves (she has you do some ab work that even I find a little tough to get right, so I just modify the move...there are a couple others that also aren’t simple, but again, can be modified).All in all, I highly recommend this DVD to the beginning-moderate level pregnant exerciser. It is not the most intense, but I personally don’t want to overdo it when pregnant. And yes, someone who is very fit will likely be disappointed. But overall, if your fitness level is beginning to intermediate, highly recommend.