Maternal Fitness: Preparing for a Healthy Pregnancy, an Easier Labor, and a Quick Recovery, by Julie Tupler [Paperback⋅1st Edition 1996]
20+ reviews
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Pick This * DescriptionGet Your Body Ready for the Marathon of Labor! If you're newly pregnant, you're probably watching your diet carefully, getting plenty of rest, and preparing for the arrival of your new baby. You're also thinking about the big day itself and what the experience of labor will be like. Even if you're following a regular fitness program, you'll want to do everything you can to strengthen and prepare your body for the rigors of labor. Maternal Fitness features clearly illustrated exercises that focus specifically on the muscle groups you'll use throughout labor, especially the transverse abdominals -- the stomach muscles that play a critical role during delivery. A powerful set of transverse abs can speed labor and delivery and make for a quick recovery. By learning how to strengthen your abdominals and relax your pelvic floor muscles, you'll be able to push more effectively. While the Maternal Fitness program is designed specifically for the big moment, it also has other benefits, from minimizing backache and fatigue to giving you a welcome head start on getting back into shape after childbirth. Developed by a professional trainer who is also a registered nurse and childbirth educator, the Maternal Fitness program is safe for you and your baby and easy to do. Once learned, it can be incorporated into any workout.
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Rave Reviews (9)*
1) I love this book! My back pain went away and I feel great!
by E on March 28 2001
30+ helpful votesThe book is easy to read and after doing the exercises for two months, I feel soooo much better. I really have to do the exercises every day to make a difference. This is the only book that teaches safe abdominals to do during pregnancy. It teaches you exactly how to do them correctly. I am a Personal Fitness Trainer working in NYC for 15 years and this is The book on how to exercise correctly during pregnancy. Julie Tupler knows so much about the changes your body goes through and how to cope with it all. This is a MUST for not just surviving pregnancy, but thriving while pregnanr!
2) Just what I was hoping for!
by Anonymous on July 15 2002
20+ helpful votesI just received this book "used" from one of the retailers. I got a great deal! The order came rather quickly and the book is in excellent condition.
I like what I see in this book. This is just what I was looking for! The exercises and stretches are explained in a simple manner and there are illustrations which also guide you to make sure you are doing the exercises correctly. It is a good book for beginners. You will learn exercises to help strengthen your back, upper body, lower body and ABDOMINALS. The goal is to help you have a healthy pregnancy, efficient labor, and quick recovery.
I'm glad to finally find a book that deals with strengthening the abdominal muscles CORRECTLY. Some books tell you not to work the abdominals at all during pregnancy, but how else are you going to push that baby out??? This book teaches you the correct way to safely strengthen them. Great book.
3) Wished I had read this with my first pregnancy!
by Erin Eisenman-Turner on December 03 2000
10+ helpful votesI wished I had read this book during my first pregnancy! We are preparing to get pregnant again soon so I am preparing for it. I have read this book cover to cover and have already begun doing the exercises! I think women, pregnant or not, should read this book! In two weeks, I have felt a difference in the tone of my abs and also my posture! The book really focuses on being aware of your body and specific muscles thus giving you control. This book for me has filled in alot of the gaps that my OB doctor, Lamaze teacher and 5 other pregnancy books couldn't fill!
It does ask you to give alot of time to the exercises, but most of them can be included into your everyday activites. The book is based on a program which is offered in different areas of the country. Unfortunately, there is not a program located near me. After reading the book I did have some questions, but do not have a resource to get the answers. That's the only draw back to the book.
For anyone who desires a healthy, active and positive pregnancy experience, I highly recommend Maternal Fitness. Your body and your new baby will thank you!
4) Excellent preparation for managing labor - it works!
by Kathryn A. Schmitt on November 05 1999
10+ helpful votesI purchased this book when I was three-months pregnant with my first child. I was able to do most of the abdominal wall and breathing exercises on my daily bus-ride to and from work. The visualization/mental exercises at the end of the book are also very beneficial. I had no epidural, no drugs, and my son was born after only four and a half hours of labor. The exercises really work!
5) Do not go through labor without using this book!!!
by sasken@premier1.net on June 08 1999
10+ helpful votesThis book prepares your muscles for labor! I only used this book for two months before the birth of my first child. I was in labor for only 5 hours and only had to push 5 times before my daughter was born. The exercises in this book work!!!
6) Bought this book instead of pregnancy yoga books
by Anonymous on September 23 2002
10+ helpful votesI bought this book during my first trimester instead of the "pregnancy yoga" books I was considering. I'd been doing yoga for several years prior to my pregnancy but felt that my normal classes lacked the additional information I needed about how to effectively use my body during pregnancy and labor and how to apply everything I've learned from yoga to labor.
I was surprised and then grateful to find that many of the exercises in the book are similar to yoga, but Julie Tupler builds on the similarities and takes them a step further, without ever referring to yoga. She helps you understand and prepare for how you will be using your body during labor and gives helpful information about birthing positions, episiotomies, breathing, relaxation, and "pushing."
I'm 6 weeks away from my due date, so I can't say how effective her method will be, but it's given me peace of mind that I can get through the process of labor and opened my mind to an unmedicated birth. I feel like the book provided me exactly what I was looking for in terms of an exercise routine combined with mental preparation.
7) It really works! The best pregnancy fitness book
by S on July 05 2005
10+ helpful votesThis book is wonderful for several reasons.
1. Technical knowledge and explanations. The author is an experienced nurse and fitness trainer so she is able to offer detailed explanations of how muscles work, how to train the muscles safely and effectively, and information on how all of this is effected during pregnancy.
2. Safe and confident. I bought this book during my first pregnancy when I was scared to do anything for fear of hurting my daughter. Her explanations and the gentle exercises were just what I needed. Extremely effective and difficult while not making you worry that you are doing something wrong or pushing too hard.
3. It works! In my first pregnancy, I followed this book throughout the first and second trimesters. During the third trimester I wasn't so diligent, but even so I managed the entire 9 months without backache or waddling. When it came time to push, the memory of the exercises helped me use the tranverse muscles correctly even though I was half numb due to the epidural. I pushed my daughter out in only 30 minutes. The doctor said this was amazing for a first timer. I also think it helped assist in a speedy recovery. I gained 30 pounds - so I didn't gain a ton, but still managed to get into my prepregnancy jeans only 2 weeks after my daughter was born. They were tight but squeezing into them still made me feel great!
4. An excellent addenda to pregnancy fitness classes. In my first pregnancy my husband was in graduate school so I couldn't afford classes outside the book. In my second pregnancy now, I go to a pregnancy pilates class 3 times a week. The class helps me be more consistent than just on my own. My instructor follows almost all the principles outlined in Tupler's book and for the couple of things she does "wrong" I can quietly modify them using Tupler's techniques. And this time, being more consistent, I have also eliminated leg cramps and have far more energy in my third trimester. I realize every pregnancy is different, but I really owe a lot of this to exercise.
Anyway, I think it is the best pregnancy fitness book I have seen and it really works. Best of luck!8) Better than the other pregnancy fitness books out there!
by hivequeen on April 23 2006
10+ helpful votesScientifically reasoned, detailed explanations of the why and how of exercises for strengthening abdominals and pelvic muscles for pregnancy and after. This author clearly has had experience coaching women to do these exercises - I like the instructions of how to avoid common mistakes in these exercises, and also the interesting abdominal exercises (Tupler method) for reducing abdominal diastasis. This book looks like an excellent guide for those who want a specific training program to prepare for pregnancy and a faster recovery.
Maternal Fitness, despite its short length, is denser and more informative than the other pregnancy fitness books out there. It's the only one in my opinion worth buying, because unlike the other books, you can't find the info in this book on the web. FYI, this author also wrote "Lose your mummy tummy", which probably overlaps with the content of this book but may be more up to date...9) Reading this book was the best thing for preparing for labor
by Anonymous on July 08 1998
10+ helpful votesWhen I read the part of the book where the woman's delivery took only 8 minutes, I decided that was for me. This was my first baby and I was scared to death of labor and delivery. I did all of the exercises and did water aerobics up until I went into labor. I only had hard labor for 1 hour and the delivery took 10 minutes with 4 pushes. My doctor was amazed. Me and my husband were relieved. I've recommended this book to 3 other people.
Credible Critiques (1)
1) Five stars for concept, one star for practicality
by Anonymous on October 07 1999
30+ helpful votes"You wouldn't run a marathon without training for it; why would you give birth without training for it?" As a marathoner, this philosophy appealed to me. But the "maternal fitness routine" takes ninety minutes. As a wife and working woman, I don't have a spare ninety minutes each day for all of these little lifts and squeezes and muscle contractions. Tupler's basic moves are good, and I do the kegels and abdominal holds every day at my desk. But I've had to abandon the "routine" in favor of my own half hour of daily exercise.
