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Exercise After Pregnancy: How to Look and Feel Your Best Book Review

By Cindy | August 9, 2008

• Author: Helene Byrne, Perinatal Exercise Specialist
• Available at Amazon: Exercise After Pregnancy: How to Look and Feel Your Best, 2nd edition
• Cost: $17.95

For moms seeking a flat stomach or abs reminiscent of the past, Helene Byrne provides a solution in Exercise After Pregnancy: How to Look and Feel Your Best, 2nd edition. The toll pregnancy takes on the body isn’t fully realized until after birth. The loose, overly stretched skin and empty, puffy pouch leaves an undeniable reminder that our body has changed.

“After birth, the abs look, feel, and function more like pudding (no one ever warns you about this) and can no longer effectively support the spine and the internal organs.” (pg. 3)

Helene promises no fast results or easy rebound. She tells it like it is. She focuses on the fundamental steps necessary to achieve core strength and a flat stomach. Her solution is easy to follow and guaranteed to work with steady and consistent application. The exercises are a mixture of pilates, yoga, dance and familiar abdominal and oblique moves. The most enlightening aspects of the book are revealed in chapters one through four where Helene explains what happens to a mom’s body and what to do well before getting on the floor and performing a variety of core exercises.

A Small Glimpse into the pages…

• Chapter 1: Pregnancy and Your Body
• Chapter 2: Posture explanation
• Chapter 3: Pelvic Floor
• Chapter 4: Abdominal Wall

Chapters 1 through 4 clearly explain the major body parts that contribute to postpartum abdominal changes. Concise and factual without being dull and too technical, Helene uses visualization techniques to develop “[t]he reestablishment of good alignment, functional stability, and balance of opposing muscle groups [which] is the most important concept in post pregnancy exercise.” (3) Her best example is the Bikini Triangle which surrounds the pelvis.

• Chapter 5: Getting Started–Through posture, abdominal separation and testing crunch ability, a mom is able to prepare for the chapters to come.

The exercise illustrations are simple and clear with mental visualization tips provided. For example, use of a squeaky toy (which I’m sure someone gave you for the baby!!!), socks, or visualize a ball ( a favorite suggestion that I use with my clients regularly) between your chin and neck when performing an abdominal crunch.

What each exercise offers:

• Clear instructions
• Goal of the exercise and what it does
• Training tips
• Step by step pictures of the movement

“When you are in a good quadruped position you will feel very powerful, like a carnivore. If you allow your spine to sag, shoulders to hunch, or head to drop, you will feel weak, more like a grazing herbivore.” (pg. 27)

• Chapter 6: Gentle Postpartum Exercises are fundamental breathing, muscle alignment and mental focus moves for any mom (postpartum or years past the birth of your child). Sound fundamentals allow for a quicker return to pre-pregnancy or even better abdominal strength.

“Focus on the quality of your actions and where your body is in space rather than on how many repetitions you can do…After pregnancy everyone needs to start with the basics.” (pg. 34)

• Chapter 7: Knitting Back Together consist of 14 exercises that continue with Chapter 6 principles to further “increase your range of motion as your strength increases.” (pg. 52)
• Chapter 8: Advanced Core Strength covers 13 exercises that are challenging and reminiscent of your past abilities.
• Chapter 9: Good Body Usage in Everyday Activities shows the practical nature of lifting, carrying, car seats, and breast feeding (with tidbits of advice on common mistakes).
• Chapter 10 Body Image After Pregnancy–I Love it. The best advice for a new mom to ponder in regards to genetic make up, societal pressures, body fat, calorie intake, and post pregnancy fat loss expectations. I highly recommend reading it, absorbing it and truly embracing this chapter first!

“We live in a culture where having a “mommy body” has never been more of a challenge. The importance of beauty, youth, and extreme thinness, along with unrealisitc, unhealthy expectations about what the female form should look like, sets up a no-win situation for most women.” (pg. 124)

• Chapter 11 How to Achieve Your Goals is a basic section on setting up simple goals without creating a massive lifestyle overhaul.

“Changing lifestyle patterns is like turning an ocean liner; it can’t be done quickly.” (pg. 130)

A Couple of Negatives

1. I would have liked to seen a one page layout of each routine with the sets, repetitions, and hold counts outlined for easy use. After a couple of walk throughs of the routine, a simple one page copy would cut the time flipping through the book and rejogging the memory. For a busy mom, a few precious moments means the difference between getting a good workout in and facing a crying baby before getting through a few exercises.
2. The components of a full fitness plan is not offered in this book. Exercise After Pregnancy: How to Look and Feel Your Best, 2nd edition only focuses on the Core muscle groups (abdominis muscles, obliques, and lower back).
3. Not a weight loss plan. Nutritional guidelines are briefly reviewed at the end, but without a complete discussion on the role food plays in assisting in weight loss and achieving the ultimate goal of a flat, possibly six pack physique. The core may strengthen, but fat will need to be tackled through a balanced plan of cardio, strength, and nutrition.

Exercise After Pregnancy: How to Look and Feel Your Best, 2nd edition is not just for postpartum mom’s. It’s a great resource for any woman new to exercise and with undeveloped core strength. Flat abs are no longer a figment of the past with dedication and focused training.

For an in depth look into Helene Byrne and more pointers, visit BeFit-Mom.

Are you ready to tackle that midsection, lose the flab and feel stronger from the inside out?

Check out more reviews and buy now:  Exercise After Pregnancy: How to Look and Feel Your Best, 2nd edition.

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