Fitness Review: Pregnancy Programs (Emily Skye Fit Pregnancy, Glow and Grow, Pwr Pregancy)

Pregnancy Fitness Programs, Generally

In needing to switch from my regular programming to pregnancy-conducive programming, I was really looking for programming where I didn’t have to guess what I should be doing - after all, that’s why I use fitness programs in my regular life. In fairness, you could just use your regular programming and simply modify where needed. Personally, I found it super frustrating to get some sort of consistent feedback on exactly what exercises you’re supposed to modify, when. Which, in fairness, is pretty consistent with all pregnancy things which, given the ethical concerns with doing blind studies that could harm a fetus, means all advice is stuck at “it might not hurt you or your unborn child but there’s no conclusive evidence so….better safe than sorry????”. So the known rules are -don’t do sh*t that overheats your body or are likely to fall down. The other “rules” include: don’t do twists, don’t do full planks, don’t do crunches, don’t lay flat on your back (2nd and 3rd trimester), don’t lay flat on your stomach. I actually might put that last one in the other category once you have a bump because - how? But I digress. I do really like that the programs progress based on what week you’re in of your pregnancy. Unlike normal fitness programs where you don’t move on until you finish that week (because you’re going for progressive overload so you can’t just skip ahead), pregnancy programs ask you to keep on moving based on where you are in your pregnancy even if you don’t complete a week. The logic makes perfect sense - your third trimester and what you can do, is different than the first trimester.

A consistent theme across all three of the programs I tried was that they are mostly meant for at home and don’t use normal gym equipment I normally use - the smith machine, the pulley system, the squat machine - for whatever reason were out. At least one of the programs is designed as a fully at-home program and to date, I’m not sure why. I assume it’s convenience but I actually go to the gym so I found it frustrating I couldn’t find a pregnancy-safe program built for normal gym equipment.

Another consistent theme is that pregnancy programs are pretty simple and beginner-based. This seems fair given that if you’re starting working out in pregnancy, it should be pretty low-key. The general rule of thumb being - You can mostly keep doing what you were doing before - so, if you weren’t doing anything before, going hardcore (for pregnancy or any other time in your life, actually) can be a road to injury and burnout. In fairness, the liability that relates to pregnant lady anything (for reputable content creators) makes me understand but not super pumped about this.

Lastly, I did find that maternity-only apps were pretty expensive - like $20 a month expensive - which is more than I pay for annual programs so in this case, I was unwilling to pay for something that was twice as expensive that was only needed for half a year.

Pregnancy With Kelsey

I’m a huge fan of the Sweat App and have been using it for quite some time so when I realized it was time to change programs, I already had an annual subscription ($79-$99) and regularly use the PWR Program (I especially love the PWR challenges that occur twice a year). The Sweat App has a lot of different programs and is based around a timer and short gif-like images of moves built into sets. So, it was a letdown when I tried the PWR pregnancy program and found it utterly boring and unchallenging - fully different from the normal PWR program. And the workouts were pretty darn short. Also, in the normal Sweat app programs you have the ability to substitute moves when a move is too challenging, too easy or you hate it.* However, in the pregnancy programs, you don’t which is actually pretty frustrating. I do love that PWR programs, including this one, include warm up and cool downs and have scheduled stretch/recovery sessions. For me, if they aren’t built into the program, I’m not going to do them. I also really appreciated this program, even though I found it a bit boring, when I was tired in my first trimester.

Pros: The Sweat app is so easy to follow, workouts include warm up and cool down, beginner-friendly, recovery sessions included in program, can be done at home or gym

Cons: No substitutions, program is short/simple

Verdict: This is better for beginners and/or people who want to work out at home

Emily Skye Fit - Pregnancy

Unlike the other programs, I haven’t used the Skye Fit app at all prior to this so I didn’t know what to expect. After I moved on from the Sweat App pregnancy program, I knew I wanted an app that included pelvic floor exercises - mainly because the 100 pregnancy books I’ve read have left me very concerned about the state of my pelvic floor. So unlike the other two programs, this program is completely home-based (i.e., it includes pillows), does not have a gym option, and is also a video. I also appreciated that it was a “full” workout lasting 48 minutes with a warm up and cool down. This program is low-key enough that I did it while I had covid (…again)

Pros: Workouts include warm up and cool down, beginner-friendly, includes guide to fitness and pregnancy

Cons: No substitutions, home-based only, in-video “encouragement” (“You got this, Mama”**), requires non-fitnessy props (I don’t…want to use coach cushions during workouts when I have so much equipment).

Verdict: This is better for people who want to work out at home and those who prefer video formatting

Glow and Grow

The Fitbbody App Glow and Grow ended up being my winner here. The program includes three strength training days, two short LISS (low-intensity steady-state cardio), and two pelvic floor and core workouts. All of this works for me. And most important, it is very, very easy to change the program level from beginner to intermediate to expert. Because of the other programs I tried, I went straight to “expert” and couldn’t do it. Also, all of the programs say they are 28 minutes but they normally take me 45 minutes so I would probably ignore that timing. The only thing I don’t love is unlike the other program, there are no set stretching or built-in cool downs. In fact, there are only 1-minute videos that you would have to cobble together yourself to make a cool down which means I often don’t stretch enough after I workout.

Pros: Program is adjustable to fitness level, includes pelvic core and floor workouts, well-rounded program with pelvic floor and core workouts

Cons: Workouts don’t warm up and cool down, No substitutions, moves can be very reptitive (i.e., I got bad news for people who don’t love lunges or shoulder presses).

Verdict: This program has almost everything I need, with the price point of $10/mos I didn’t feel bad ending up with an additional app and I overall I really like that the program being challenging without being overwhelming

*Confession: Selfie don’t do burpees anymore. I decided that life is too short. Not doing it.

** I really don’t jive at all with a lexicon wherein a grown adult refers to me, another grown a$% woman as “mama”. I actually really hate it, for me, personally. In the same way that I don’t enjoy referring to children as “littles”. I don’t want to spit in anyone’s Koolaid so, if you find this adorable and charming, please enjoy. I just don’t enjoy how the infantilization of referring to other adults or how parents speak is seemingly ubiquitous on the internet.