Dr Joanna Helcké online pregnancy fitness programme follow up review

Now I’ve had Freddie I wanted to do a follow up review for the Dr Joanna Helcké online pregnancy fitness programme I have been using.

In short, I loved it!

It looks like I’m not the only one whose loving it either, as well as being a proud owner of multiple awards, Jo has just won a Mums Love award for her online pregnancy fitness programme!  Well done Jo!

If you missed my first review of the programme, be sure to check it out, I gave a run down of how the site works and how I got on with the videos, I will say up front that I had some internet issues and so I hadn’t been able to do the programme for a few weeks.  This is all down to technical issues my end and nothing to do with the programme!
I’m VERY happy to report that my internet connection seems to have returned to it’s truly average normality so i can now use the programme again!

Perhaps, that’s where I should start with my review.
Here in Seychelles, our internet connection is by no means the fastest or the most reliable.  We get an allowance of, I think, 14gb per month.  I have been able to complete a video each day without it using all of our internet allowance!
This was my biggest worry when starting the programme!   There aren’t any ante natal classes of any sort here so to be able to use to use this daily (when I wanted to!) was a huge advantage!

That moves me on to my next point.  I’m not going to try and convince you that I have been using the programme every day, because I haven’t!!
I’m a stay at home mum to a busy busy two year old and now a newborn as well.  There are definitely days when I’ve just been too tired, or Arthur decided not to nap and I’ve just not had the time!    Different videos are suggested to be carried out different amounts of time a week depending on their intensity and of course how you are feeling! On average, I’ve done the videos 2-4 times a week.  For me it would be totally unrealistic to try and convince myself that I would do it every day.  That being said, the videos are around 20-30 mins long.  This makes it really easy to fit into your day.  If you compare this to going to a class, it’s obviously a lot less of a time commitment!  For those of you feeling up for doing the videos every day they are a great length to be able to do that!  If I’d started at the beginning of my pregnancy I’m sure I’d have been doing it daily then!

Jo has done an amazing job of matching the intensity of the work outs to the stage of pregnancy you are at.  I think if I’d have watched the later stage pregnancy videos early on I’d probably have laughed but believe me they are definitely intense enough late on!!

By the time I reached 37 weeks pregnant I was finding walking up the stairs hard work so I really didn’t need to be attempting anything too crazy fitness wise, and Jo clearly understands that!

I found the videos became more about stress and tension relieving (and it’s amazing how much tension your body holds on to during pregnancy!) as well as maintaining mobility the further into pregnancy I’ve got.

The one thing I have mentioned to Jo that I’d like to see change on the site is to have a list of the items needed for the video before clicking play.  At the moment Jo gives a list once the video starts, I’m found that I then needed to hit pause to get what I needed so I don’t miss anything!  This is obviously a very minor thing but would just make it a little more user friendly!

I have found the community section of Jo’s site nice and friendly and I LOVE when an expert comes in for a week and answers questions, it’s a fantastic opportunity to get advice, tips and ideas from experts in all different fields, such as Doula’s and breastfeeding experts   It’s nice to see questions from other mums to be too, it reassures you that you’re not the only one feeling that way or it gives you something new to think about, either way it’s all good!!

At £12 per month for a subscription to the programme I think the price is really very reasonable for what you get; a weekly personalised Pilates video, access to online community as well as loads of bonus mini-workouts and nutrition tips!

Its now been three weeks since I had my elective Caesarian to have Freddie and I’m bouncing back well! Freddie has seemed to have just slotted right in to our little family, it’s like he’s always been here!!

I’m very excited that I am now continuing on with Jo for the postnatal series, I’ll be sure to do a review or two on this to let you know how I get on!

Disclaimer: I have been given access to the Dr Joanna Helcke online pregnancy fitness programme for the purpose of a review but all thoughts and comments are entirely my own!