Book Review
Bounce Back Into Shape After Baby
By Caroline C. Creager
Reviewed by
Melissa Rice Noble
Cherry Hill NJ USA
From: NEW BEGINNINGS, Vol. 20 No. 5, September-October 2003, pp. 190
Bounce Back Into Shape
After Baby by Caroline C. Creager makes new mothers and the newly
born feel good-together! The author includes detailed information related
to the postpartum period, starting a new mother "from scratch"
with her exercise program. The exercises are baby-inclusive, creative,
and fun...and the stretches are phenomenal. The book is summed up in
tear-out, mini-workout pages that can easily be brought to the gym,
park, or basement floor.
The author speaks "the
mother tongue"; it's clear she is familiar with life with a baby.
She gives tips on selecting sports bras and combining nursing with exercise.
She knows how your shoulders creep up toward your ears when feeding
a baby. (The "Side Neck Stretch" and "Back of Neck Stretch"
relieve that tightness.) The most awesome stretch for a sling-wearer
is the "Abdominal and Back Stretch," which "improves
posture by stretching the abdominal and back muscles in the opposite
direction of the slouch." It's almost a back-bend over an exercise
ball, and it feels amazing. She includes an exercise flow chart on which
to document progress.
The ball workouts are fun,
and, after a practice run, they allow you "time to workout while
entertaining your baby." Many of her exercises include the little
one, such as "Pelvic Tilt While Sitting on Ball with Baby"
(which is fun just to say), "Back and Neck Strengthener,"
"Oblique Exercises," "Shoulder Rowing," and more.
I'll admit, the concept of
exercising with a big rubber ball put me off at first. I had to locate
one, and then when I sat on it, I felt like an enormous hen. But getting
past that was well worthwhile. She explains that "exercise is a
natural mood enhancer and can help reduce stress and depression,"
and she provides detailed information to help new mothers get moving.
The ball strengthening and stretching exercises in the book can be combined
with aerobic exercise (three to five times a week) to "further
enhance your potential to burn fat, improve stamina, and strengthen
your heart and lungs."
The most outstanding feature
of the book is the series of 10-minute mini-workouts, presented as a
quick reference on perforated, illustrated "cheat sheets."
These exercise combos use the exercises illustrated throughout the book
for "time-efficient workouts that can be squeezed into any part
of your day." Definitely mother-friendly.
Intimate personal problems
a new mother may experience are addressed in a kindly, mother-to-mother
manner. Caroline Creager provides straightforward information that new
mothers need to know but may be too embarrassed or hurried to ask their
doctor. She doesn't hesitate to address such personal topics as scar
tissue massage, back pain, abdominal muscle separation, pelvic strengthening,
urinary or fecal incontinence, and posture. She offers a veritable salad
bar of Kegel exercises.
Some fitness gurus come across
as impregnable, rock-hard fortresses of fitness. Others seem to use
their own offspring as a handy segue into the maternity market. Ms.
Creager devotes her book not only to the search and rescue of one's
pre-pregnancy posterior, but to actually enjoying baby. So browse the
book and have a ball.
Last updated Tuesday, October 24, 2006 by njb.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:30:42 UTC 2007.
