Kathy Smith: Pilates for Abs: Amazon.ca: DVD: DVD

Product Description

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Pilates is an intense, controlled way of working your core muscles--the back and abdominal muscles that stabilize your body--using technique, breathing, and concentration. Veteran instructor Kathy Smith leads an effective 30-minute Pilates workout. The 8-minute warm-up teaches the essentials of Pilates, followed by a 22-minute Pilates routine that targets the abdominals. Smith is an excellent instructor with a knack for explaining technique clearly. "Imagine a balloon pulling you up toward the opposite wall," she says as she teaches the difficult Teaser. She demonstrates the basic, sometimes modified, moves with another exerciser showing more advanced positions. Smith continues to emphasize technique, breathing, and proper position through each exercise, making sure you understand how to get the most out of each movement. This is an excellent introduction to Pilates, especially--but not exclusively--for beginners to this discipline. --Joan Price

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Customer Reviews

32 Reviews

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

Average Customer Review

3.2 out of 5 stars (32 customer reviews)

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3.0 out of 5 stars Good introduction for beginning exerciser, Nov 9 2003

By

"beca6000" (Cleveland, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kathy Smith: Pilates for Abs (VHS Tape)

This video would make an excellent introduction to Pilates for the beginning exerciser. As usual, Kathy explains each movement very well and reminds the exerciser to engage the powerhouse throughout the video. However she spends little time on each movement and the intensity level is very low. As an intermediate/advanced exerciser I did not feel like I got a good workout - way too short in reps and too long in instruction for longterm use to be of benefit.

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4.0 out of 5 stars good beginner workout, May 20 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Kathy Smith: Pilates for Abs (DVD)

This is a really good abs workout. It is shorter than SMith's other pilates workout for the lower body. I found that the exercises were harder and I was unable to complete the workout the first time. However, I give this workout four stars because it has some of the same ecercises as the Lower Body workout and it is not as long. I simply felt that Kathy Smith's Pilates for the Lower Body was the better video of the two. This works best when used with that workout.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Great technique pointers make this a great abs workout!, Jan 23 2004

By

Beth Cholette "doctor_beth" (Upstate NY USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Kathy Smith: Pilates for Abs (VHS Tape)

At the start of this video, Kathy Smith takes a full 7 minutes to discuss proper form and alignment. She covers important Pilates terms such as the powerhouse, and she also offers detailed form pointers including how to pull your navel toward your spine, how to tilt your pelvis, and how to contract your pelvic floor (similar to Kegel exercises). Although I was already familiar with Pilates, I found this section to be a very helpful refresher, and I appreciated Kathy's unique instruction.

Kathy then moves on to the workout. Although she doesn't do the moves in the classic Pilates sequence--she notes that she altered the sequence to focus even more specifically on the abs--she does start with the typical Pilates first exercise, the Hundred. She performs this and other moves at a modified level while her assistant, Lija, demonstrates more challenging positions. The exercises include lesser-known Pilates moves such as the Can-Can and the Mermaid as well as a yoga pose, Bridge. Kathy offers form reminders throughout the workout, and I found this to be particularly helpful in making sure that the work was concentrated in my abs. The entire workout is over in a quick 20 minutes, but by the end, my abs definitely felt the work.

Although this workout is appropriate for those at a beginning level, I wouldn't recommend it to someone totally brand new to Pilates, as it proceeds a bit too quickly. Instead, a Pilates novice could use either Ana Caban's Beginner's Mat Work or Hilary Burnett's Pilates for Beginners to obtain more detailed instruction on performing the movements. Once the basic technique is learned, however, this workout is appropriate for beginning or intermediate Pilates practitioners who want a short program which specifically targets the abdominal muscles.

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Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Negative Reveiws are true
I really should have taken the negative customer reviews more seriously before buying this tape. I believe some moves are well targeted to the abs while others are just too... Read more

Published on Aug 28 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Graceful but intense ... and works!
Of all the Pilates tapes available on this, the planet Earth, Kathy Smith has produced the very best. Read more

Published on Aug 15 2003 by Wes Saylors Jr.