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The best part about Erin O'Brien's new prenatal yoga DVD isn't just that she drags her husband, "Desperate Housewives" star James Denton, into the room for partner stretching. The best part is that it's hard and exactly what she did when she was pregnant.
Let's face it. Most prenatal classes and DVDs are insufferable. They're boring and ridiculously easy. They have to cater to all fitness levels and all body types, bodies changing by surprising proportions.
Some of us can touch our toes, some of us can't see our toes. Women in the first trimester can do virtually all the poses. Women in the third trimester are carrying unfathomable loads. But we still want a good workout and some way to deal with back pain and sciatica.
In my first pregnancy, I was so bored with prenatal yoga videos that I went to regular yoga classes until I injured myself. For my current pregnancy, however, I found four excellent workouts I could do at home. I did one of these four DVDs every night of the week, picking the one that best matched my mood.
"Erin O'Brien's PreNatal Fitness Fix" (Acacia, $19.99)
Of the four, this is the one that will make you sweat. It's also amusing and entertaining. We first see O'Brien, a Hollywood personal trainer and group exercise instructor, impersonating Alfred Hitchcock. Soon she is moving with infectious enthusiasm and energy even though she is 7 1/2 months pregnant. The 40-minute workout combines pilates, Kegels and conditioning, and ends with a 20-minute partner workout that involves Denton.
"I was really afraid of getting fat," said O'Brien, who loved doing squats, cat and cow yoga poses and inner thigh work. "You don't have to be on a diet when you're pregnant, but you need to be fit for you and your baby. Remember, fat mommies make fat babies."
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"Prenatal Yoga With Shiva Rea" (Gaiam, $19.98)
It may be 6 years old, but Shiva Rea's 57-minute DVD is still one of the all-time best. In fact, although not as vigorous as O'Brien's, it's a perfect video to do just before bed. For starters, Rea has that calm, soothing voice that you can listen to repeatedly without going mad.
Then she tells you why each pose you're doing might help with labor and/or delivery, but she doesn't get too technical about how to get into it, a relief for those already doing yoga.
The program includes meditation and pranayama (breath control), floor work, standing poses, plenty of squats, Kegels and meditation. The only reason I didn't do it every night was that I always felt compelled to do the whole thing once I started.
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"Sara Holliday's Prenatal Yoga Series" (Fitbysara.com, $12.99)
Holliday produced three trimester-specific DVDs that reflect her own workouts during pregnancy. The first is the most challenging; then the series gets progressively more relaxed. Toward the end of my pregnancy, her 40-minute third-trimester DVD was the only one I had the energy to do.
"Anything you do to open the pelvis is good," said Holliday, 34, who embodies the mind-spirit connection. She is not just a yoga instructor and skilled martial artist; her background also includes certification as an aerobics instructor, a personal trainer, a massage therapist, and marriage and family therapist. "You can't be fit in the body if the mind and spirit aren't with you," she said.
Holliday, who has two children, 3-year-old Ty and 5-month-old Kaden, scandalously gained less than 25 pounds with each pregnancy. During her pregnancies she did yoga three or four times a week, walked, taught kickboxing and worked in both lunges and squats.
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"Tracey Mallett Fitness Pregnancy System 3 in 1" (ATP Fitness Productions, $19.99)
Mallett's DVD, a workout she did three times a week, combines the core pelvic-floor conditioning of pilates with the flexibility and stress release of yoga. She also includes strength training and enlists her husband in a partner-stretching segment for back pain.
"It allows you to achieve that extra stretch, which is especially hard on your own with a bigger-than-normal belly," she said. "It's also important that the husband feel part of the pregnancy, and these techniques can help in the delivery room."
Mallett, who is 28 weeks pregnant in the DVD, gained 45 pounds with her first child and 37 with the second but managed to drop the weight in five months. Though challenging, the video can also be used by pilates newbies and postpartum to tone a flabby middle.
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(Don't bother e-mailing or blogging Julie for a couple months, because she'll be busy teaching yoga to her second son, who arrived Monday. Meanwhile, continue to send health news to rwerland@tribune.com.)
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(c) 2006, Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Mclatchy-Tribune News Service.
