Review: Stroller Workout for Moms (With Giveaway!)
Some postpartum workout DVDs are designed to ease new moms back into fitness. Sara Holliday’s Stroller Workout for Moms, however, isn’t about easing. It’s a booty-kicking workout that will have your body shaking like Jell-O.
Before kicking my rear with the stroller workout, I first tested another DVD in Sara’s Fit By Sara: Fit For Mom Series, Postnatal Total Body Toning Workout. If you’re easing back into workouts, this is where you should start. No equipment is needed, and it’s a good basic aerobic toning workout that got me glistening. It combines all the get-into-shape basics—push-ups, lunges, squats—with kickboxing drills for cardio. Abs get a workout during the cardio simply from keeping you stable, but basic ab floor work is also included. Crazy forward and side leg lifts on the floor were tough. One drawback: I’m not a fan of the voiceover instruction—it just doesn’t give me the personal touch I want in a DVD.
Now for the Stroller Workout for Moms. Because Mother Nature hasn’t gotten the memo that spring is here (and it’s hard to play a DVD outside), I took the stroller workout indoors sans stroller. An audio CD is included so you can load the workout on your iPod and get outside, but the DVD is the perfect reminder that you don’t need to slow down just because you’re pushing a stroller. It is super easy to modify for indoors (a section explaining modifications is included on the DVD), and I’d recommend watching and doing it inside before heading to the great outdoors, anyway. Sara leads you through intervals of walking interspersed with walking lunges, push-ups, tricep dips and kickboxing drills. By the end, I couldn’t have done another push-up or kick; my legs felt like lead and my arms were wobbly. In a good way, of course. Ten minutes of lower-body and ab toning is a bonus because you’ve already hit every body part by the time you get here.
While Sara gives good cues on form, she’s mostly business and spends her talk-time counting and pushing through the moves. I wish she would throw in the occasional busy-mom anecdote or joke, especially because she is literally going in circles with her stroller—the perfect opportunity for lightheartedness! And I was dying to know whether there was actually a baby in her stroller.
FBG Rating (Out of 5):
Instruction: ★★★
Long-Term Likeability:★★★
Music: ★★
Fun Factor: ★★★
Meets Expectations: ★★★
Overall: ★★★
Fit Bottom line: If you’re ready to kick your workouts up a notch and get your cardio on, these DVDs are for you. Though they don’t have glossy studio sets, with intervals of strength and kickboxing drills, both workouts will have your heart pumping.
Ready to kick your rear into gear—literally? Comment below to win these two workouts! Winners will be notified by email. U.S. residents only, please.
Tune in tomorrow when we talk to Sara about all things health and fitness! —Erin