ELEMENT: Prenatal & Postnatal Yoga

I've already tried an Element Yoga DVD and I enjoyed it. I really liked her teaching style. This DVD I wanted my sister to take a look at, since she is actually pregnant. Below are her thoughts:

"This is a great routine for beginning to intermediate yoga practitioners. Both the instructor demonstrating and the voice-over guidance are easy to follow. The calming, but minimal acoustic guitar in the background combined with the soothing voice of the instructor sets a relaxing tone for the work out. The exercises themselves flow well, encouraging gentle opening, energizing and strengthening without holding the poses for so long that it becomes uncomfortable. This routine would be good from the beginning all the way to last month or so of pregnancy - with the second trimester probably being the best time for it.

For me personally at 38 weeks, there were a few poses I had difficulty with and chose not to do, namely triangle, side angle, tabletop and plank. If I had been doing this routine a few months ago perhaps these poses would not have presented any problems. So if you are far along be prepared to modify or exclude some of the exercises as needed. The instructor mentions a few third trimester modifications, but does not dwell on them, so previous knowledge of how to modify poses is helpful though not absolutely necessary.

This 30 minute sequence takes you from standing salutations to variations on chair, warrior 1 and 2, side angle and triangle and mixes in some floor work with plank, squats, pigeon, tabletop, and child's pose punctuated with plenty of down dog and forward bends. The last 10 minutes or so are a seated cool-down sequence and meditation. Overall, I thought it was a very balanced work out, though not ideal for the last few weeks of pregnancy. Always listen to your body and if a pose doesn't feel good, back off and substitute one that does."

Thank you Krysta! This DVD also has a routine for about 6 weeks after giving birth. You can look forward to another review regarding that routine, also by Krysta, in the future.

If you are interested in purchasing this DVD on Amazon.com see below:

Purchase on Amazon

If you are more interested in Element Yoga see below:

Element Yoga

Happy Training! à bientôt!

YOGADOWNLOAD: Prenatal Yoga #1

This is a gentle workout that is ideal for prenatal health. The video is a series of images and verbal instructions with some music. If you are familiar with yoga poses you may feel more comfortable with this format. If you are not familiar with yoga you may have a slightly less graceful transition between poses, but I don't know that growing a baby can ever make things graceful.

Below is my dear pregnant sister's thoughts on the sequence:

"The yoga sequence starts out with meditation and deep breathing. Then a seated side bend to each side followed by a gentle twist, also while seated. From there you move to all fours for pelvic rocking - a variation on cat/cow that focuses on your lower back and pelvic area instead of engaging your entire back. This is followed by downward facing dog, then mountain pose into awkward chair pose to strengthen the legs. Following awkward chair, you return to standing in mountain pose, then step back for warrior 2 on each side. After returning to standing, you lower into a basic squat with your hands in prayer. Following the squat you move into one-legged pigeon pose on each side, separated by downward facing dog in between. The final few minutes are spent relaxing in corpse pose if you are less than 20 weeks, or in a supported front-side sleep pose if you are in the last half of pregnancy.

"The instructor has a very soothing voice and goes at a nice easy pace. The exercises are all beginner-level but in the case of awkward chair and warrior, held for just long enough that you can get a little bit of a burn in your legs and arms. Each slide will show modifications for comfort if applicable. A lot of prenatal yoga videos can have a "new-age" preachy feel to them that is off-putting for some people, but this routine is pretty mild as far as that goes and offers a few interesting notes on how each exercise is physically beneficial. My favorites are the pelvic rocking since it takes the weight of the baby off of your back, and one-legged pigeon pose because it is such a fantastic stretch. I have only used pillows for one-legged pigeon pose and to assist in the squat occasionally. I will often choose to sit in lotus pose at the end instead of trying to find a comfortable lying down position - which is difficult when you get big toward the end. Overall this is a great sequence for those looking to lightly warm their muscles and focus on relaxation and stretching. It is not so much of a "workout" if that is what you are after. While it is definitely geared toward pregnancy, all of the exercises are great for anyone in need of a low-impact, gentle routine."

 

Check out the link below for other prenatal workouts from some awesome yoga instructors (note that there are some free downloads in there):

YogaDownload Prenatal

Here is the link to YogaDownload's Prenatal Yoga #1 download list:

Prenatal Yoga #1 Download

Here is a link to the specific prenatal yoga workout, which was uploaded by YogaDownload:

Prenatal Yoga #1 Youtube

Happy Training! à bientôt!

SLIM DOWN IN A SPLASH: Pool Workout

Summer is coming to an end, but we are also approaching the warmest month! So why not "Slim Down" in the pool while you are having fun? My sister sent me another routine that she used during her first and second trimesters. I have also tried some of the exercises and am game for anything that will burn, tone and strengthen! The following is her detailed review on the workout since she is more familiar than I am.

• K-Tread is much more difficult to do than you would think - it really works out your arms and abs. I had to use water-weights under my arms to support myself or I couldn't keep my legs straight without sinking, but my sister was able to do it solo. 

• Otter Roll is fun, though I altered it slightly to keep my head out of the water - it can make you dizzy if you aren't careful. We only did this one occasionally.
• Ball Lever is another very difficult one because it requires you to use core muscles to keep your body straight while countering a lot of resistance from the water. I didn't do this one as often as my sister.
• Pike Scull (we just called it "V" for the shape) was one of our favorites and we would have races down the length of the pool to see who could move the fastest while maintaining the v-shape with their abs. I had to use floatation under my arms on this one too.
• Wave Maker is great if you don't mind attracting attention from the splashing. I was a little self-conscious and kept my waves below the water and didn't do it as often, opting instead to just flutter kick.

So we would do a random assortment of these exercises (always "K" and "V") plus "bicycle"ing our legs with some water-weight curling to work our arms and a lunging and stretching cool-down in the shallows at the end. Flutter kicks or Frog/scissor kicks were the "filler" exercise, just doing laps for however long we wanted to after the more rigorous stuff. Our workout always lasted for about 45min-1hour. If I felt any straining or pain I immediately backed off and did something gentle instead. I've found that many workouts can be adapted for prenatal use by just paying attention to how your body is feeling and using common sense.

This is the pool workout that can work for anyone:
<http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/lose-weight/total-body/pool-workout/?page=1K-tread>

Thank you Krysta for the awesome review on the Slim Down in a Splash Pool Workout!

Happy Training! à bientôt!

*Image from Fitnessmagazine.com picturing K-Tread from this workout.

WATER BABY: Pool Workout (Updated)

I personally haven't had any children yet, but this is a workout that two of my sisters tried when they were pregnant. I've looked over the workout and actually tried it with them (yes, even though I'm not preggo) and it feels fantastic! 

I think that the benefits of this workout would include: 

• It's easy on the joints
• Takes the pressure off your poor preggo back
• It gives great resistance
• It's fun!!

Here is what my sister had to say:

"I avoided the ones that required a pool noodle since I didn't have one and I don't like laying my head back in the water.

#5 - 'upper body sweep' was my favorite exercise to do since it reminded me of yoga. It is a balancing pose that also luxuriously stretches the muscles from your back and shoulders down to your toes. It was so freeing to elongate my whole body without the fear of falling on my tummy. A good water-yoga continuation is to stretch your arms forward, palms touching, and lean forward until you can no longer balance, then allow the leg you are balancing on to drift up and straighten behind you, level with your other lifted leg.Slowly skim forward to come into a belly-float with your entire body stretched out flat for a few seconds. You don't have to put your face all the way in the water, but that is how it should be done for the full stretch. Repeat on the other leg."

Here is the link to the page:

<http://www.fitpregnancy.com/workouts/prenatal-workouts/water-baby>

Here is the link to the actual workout (or click the "click here to view water baby workout" link halfway down the page from the above link):

<http://www.fitpregnancy.com/featured-galleries/water-baby-workout>

Happy Training! à bientôt!

 *image pulled from the fitpregnancy.com Water Baby page.