Moms into Fitness Second Trimester

I am really surprised with this workout. I do this workout about three to four times a week, along with Kathy Smith's pregnancy aerobics. They are both good for different reasons. Mom's into fitness has helped a lot with toning muscles and keeping my energy levels up. The 50 minute circuit workout really improved my posture, my flexibility and my energy levels. While Kathy Smith's pregnancy workout is good for a variety of reasons it is very easy to pull a muscle jumping into complex moves. I find that Lindsay does her best to keep strain off of the muscles which I greatly appreciate.

This DVD has 2 workouts: a 40 minute Cardio & Toning (circuit) workout and a 20 minute yoga workout. I got it mainly for the circuit workout, which I'm quite happy with. I'm also favorably impressed with the yoga workout from previewing it. I do a fair amount of yoga when I'm not pregnant, and the sequencing and Lindsay's instruction in the yoga section seem really nice, especially since she's not a specialized yoga instructor.

The cardio & toning workout seems very carefully designed with the demands of pregnancy, labor & delivery, and postnatal recovery in mind. It's more intense than most of the pregnancy workouts I've seen (though it's still not super intense compared to non-pregnancy workouts). It's definitely more intense than Denise Austin's Fit & Firm Pregnancy workout, and maybe a little bit more intense than Tracey Mallett's Fit for Pregnancy; the strength work is less challenging than the Perfect Pregnancy Workout. I've been enjoying using this along with Mallett's Fit for Pregnancy plus some cardio-only workouts each week. Both this workout and Fit for Pregnancy leave my body feeling good afterwards, which is great as I have tailbone/pubic bone pain during pregnancy along with the usual lower back aches and other problems that go along with pregnancy.

The set is very simple: an exercise floor with white walls and some white curtains on the side walls, and three white banners with "moms into fitness" on them on the back wall. Production is good in terms of sound and camera angles. Pretty standard workout video music that you might recognize from other DVDs for the cardio-toning workout, pleasant yoga-ish music for the yoga section.

Lindsay (who is not pregnant) leads the workouts using two sets of dumbbells ("heavy and light": 5 and 8 pounds). There are two pregnant background exercisers, one showing easier modifications and using 3 and 5 pound weights.

Lindsay starts out reminding you about activating your transverse abs and keeping good posture, and she adds transverse abs reminders throughout the workout, which I find especially helpful during pregnancy. Other pregnancy-specific tips ,such as modifications to deal with carpel tunnel syndrome and diastasis recti, are included in the workout, and there's additional information about exercising during pregnancy on the DVD in an FAQ section and Exercise Modifications section.

CARDIO & TONING WORKOUT (~40 minutes total)

Warm up (5 minutes): Some stretches and squats then simple cardio warm up (marches, knees, side steps) and a hip flexor stretch

Cardio-Toning Workout (25 minutes): Two cycles of 8-9 minutes of toning with 4 minutes of low-impact floor aerobics

Toning (9 minutes): Pushups on knees with arms wide

Triceps pushups on knees

Reverse lunges with light dumbbells (or no weights)

Overhead press/lat pull down, one arm at a time with heavy weights

Holding a quarter squat, one leg taps forward, side, and back (works lower body and balance)

External shoulder rotations with light weights

Cardio (4 minutes): A simple combination is built using: 4 marches forward and back, side steps, and V-steps. Each exerciser shows a different arm option to adjust the intensity

Toning (8 minutes): Reverse fly, one arm at a time, light weights

Squat with biceps curl and overhead press (or just biceps if modifying), light weights

21s (biceps curls with 7 reps lower half, 7 upper half, 7 full range), heavy weights

Triceps kickbacks, one arm at a time, light weights

Squat with knee lifts, no weights

Cardio (4 minutes): Different combination, again made of pretty simple floor aerobics moves: knees, double side steps, step touch moving forward and back, heel jacks (either low or high impact)

Cool down and stretch (5 minutes)

Core work (6 minutes): Planks with several modifications for intensity and carpet tunnel syndrome

All fours, lift arm and rotate it out to the side, lift opposite leg is desired

Seated, lean upper body back and do rotations to each side

Lying back supported on elbows with legs slightly bent in "froggy" position, alternate lifting legs

A few core stretches to end

YOGA WORKOUT (19 minutes, about 4 minutes gentle standing warms ups, 8 minutes more vigorous standing poses, 7 minutes seated poses. There's no final relaxation or corpse pose.)

Breathing exercises and core engagement exercises, side and chest stretches

Chair pose

Warrior/side angle/triangle combination, runner's lunge and pigeon pose, and onto all fours, lifting opposite arm and leg - all on one side, then full combination done on other side

Seated poses for upper body, back, lower body; cat-cow; downward dog; squat pose (deep squat for hip and inner thigh opening); hamstring stretches