Pilates for Weight Loss [Deluxe DVD Edition]

 

 

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If you are a Pilates fan and you also love ocean scenery, this is one of the best workouts yet! I love the "yoga" atmosphere and Suzanne Deason is actually a yoga instructor who has been teaching for over 25 years. She brings a calming influence and intuitive awareness to the entire workout. You learn to integrate mind, body and breath.

The focus is not only on exercise. This DVD also has a small pamphlet with a nutrition and weight management guide (more a reminder than a complete program). Suzanne's philosophy is to regain a sense of balance and then you can use diet and exercise to help you with your weight loss. We all know that when we are stressed, we munch more and make poor food choices. If you take an hour to exercise each day, you will notice you are eating more salads, drinking more water and basically making better choices because you feel more calm.

You will notice an increased awareness as far as the whole mind/body connection is concerned. You will feel more awareness during the day and the days that follow this workout. It is as if your entire body is more in tune and you have more confidence on all levels.

The scenery is gorgeous and you can truly escape into Maui! Lately, I'm thinking of exercise as a mini vacation for my soul and body. This workout also calms your entire nervous system and gives you an inner calm and confidence on a higher level than most workouts.

First, you are watching just Suzanne sitting near the water and then two friends join her to show you the beginner and intermediate versions of the exercises. Suzanne shows the "challenge" exercises. If you have done any Pilates videos, you can almost be assured you will be able to do the challenge section. I found it warmed my body completely, yet I was not out of breath.

The cueing is excellent and actually, Suzanne is not talking during the exercises, she is talking about what you are doing. It is as if you are just working along with three other students. This approach does take some of her personality out of the workout and yet it made it more personal and calming. So, she is still cueing, but not talking while she
is exercising, it is more of a dubbed over approach.

You need: Pilates Mat or Yoga Mat and Pillow.

The workout starts with an excellent "creating awareness" warm up that wakes up all your muscles. If you have chosen to go with the combined workout (recommended at first so you can see what level you enjoy), you can follow the begginer, intermediate or advanced versions or switch between them depending on your level in that particular exercise. You can also chose to just do the partially modified or the fully modified versions. This is more relaxing as you don't' have to listen to instructions for all three versions and you can up the challenge level if you want to go with the advanced versions.

The Exercises: Foot and Angle Work, The Hundred, The Roll-Up, Leg Circles, Single-leg Stretch, Cross-Cross, Hip Circles, Double-leg Stretch, Gentle Spine Twist, Spine Stretch, The Mermaid, The Saw, Quadraped, Swam Preparation, Lower Body Leg Lifts, Swan, Child's Pose, Bridges, Hamstring Stretch, Scissors, Unicycle, Side-leg Lifts, Side-leg Circles, Inner Thigh Lifts, Bicycle, Double-leg Circles, Standing Roll-up, Cat Spine, Arch Curl, Side Stretch, The Hammock.

The exercises were chosen with the idea that larger bodies would be performing them. Amazingly enough, many instructors don't take this into consideration. The pace is perfect and I felt I could do all the exercises without feeling I had to reach some impossible goal.

There is a way to access additional information about a specific exercise when a special icon appears. This is called the "personal instructor" option.

The funniest thing was while doing the "Cat Spine" exercise, my one cat was walking under me, back and forth thinking I must be a cat. It was cute. The exercises were all familiar, yet Suzanne does include some variations I had yet to try. Her Swan was more like a swim and I liked that version more. Her roll-ups don't quite go as far over as I'd like, but with any workout, you can change the exercise if you like another one more. There is more foot/ankle work which is always a good thing because most workouts don't focus on this area at all.

So, you get three workouts on one DVD:

Complete 60-minute Pilates conditioning workout
Two 45-minute workout variations to allow you to progress to the next level

Well organized, smooth transitions and comforting environment. Excellent music and ocean scenery was a real plus!

Recommended for Pilates & Yoga fans who love well organized and highly effective workouts. See my other favorites at: seasonedwithlove.com/fitness_videos.htm.

Also look for:

Gaiam Pilates beginning Mat Workout
Gaiam Pilates Intermediate Mat Workout
Gaiam A.M and P.M. Pilates Mat Workout

~The Rebecca Review.com

I think that which VHS you prefer depends a lot on your temperment, just as much as
the quality of the workout. For Pliates and Yoga, I prefer straight-forward, calm and
pleasant instruction (nothing intrusive) like that of Suzanne Deason and Alan Finger.
On the other hand, for Aerobics, I prefer more animated instruction (even annoying
Richard Simmons to that of comatose Jane Fonda who is totally devoid of
personality). With that said, this VHS is my favorite of the 5 that I own (Pilates for Dummies-which I also like a lot and which I found to be invaluable for learning the exercises before
moving on to Suzanne Deason's VHS and the 3-SET of Mari Winsor-whom I can't stand-
she talks, actually, yells, incessantly and says little that is useful. She wastes half the time
making stupid comments and her tapes are nothing exceptional). I do recommend "Pilates
for Dummies" before doing this tape, because, if you are brand new to Pilates, I think that
you will be somewhat confused withour prior instruction. This tape is approximately 55 minutes of actual workout time. The first 10 minutes or so are devoted to "Awareness", awakening your muscles with various gentle exercises and easing you into the Workout. You then move on to the "Workout" which is about 40 minutes long. (I prefer a long workout to a 20 minute one) The tape ends with another 5 minutes or so of Yoga to relax you and make your back feel great. After the Bridge, you do the SideStretch and finish with the Hammock. There are 3 women doing 3 variations on each exercise. You follow whichever one you like according to your level of proficiency- Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced. Suzanne Deason makes you go slowly into each Pilates exercise (pose), one step at a time, you come out of each one the same way. If you do this properly (abdomen tightened - this is the KEY to reaping the benefits of Pliates) even the setup and easing out are pretty intense for a beginner like me. If I didn't like this VHS so much (as I do with her "Yoga for Weight Conditioning"), I'd give it no stars for lying about the weight loss part. I believe that using weight loss in her titles is a cheap ploy to get people to buy her tapes. That's my only complaint about her and her tapes. DO NOT expect to lose weight from this and DO NOT expect to see immediated results, although, you'll feel results right away. I find this workout to be both relaxing and invigorating, and, I feel great afterwards. I've been doing Pilates for about 6 weeks. I used "Pilates for Dummies" for 2 weeks, then switchewd to this tape. As a beginner, I love it (I do some intermediate and some advanced levels now). I can't say if I'll still find it enjoyable and challenging when I'm more proficient.

Few people come back to write a second review - I just had to!!
Its now January and since I wrote the review in Oct. I have lost another size using this tape as my core workout 2-3 times a week!! I have been trying many other pilates workouts to find the perfect companion to this one. I can't always get an hour of quality time so I've been looking for a shorter intermediate workout. So far, Denise Austin's - Pilates for Everybody is the best I've found - using the resistence bands adds a new level of challenge. But I still love this tape best!! This program continues to inspires me even months later, has kept me challenged, and still gets results!! I am still losing inches!!

The challenge is entirely in performing the technique correctly. While most of the moves have become easy for me there are some that I am still working to master. Unlike other tapes, the scenic Hawaiian background really does it for me... this program gives me a perfect balance of meditation and exercise!! It has made me feel strong, flexible and relaxed. Still LOVE IT!!

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2.0 out of 5 stars Not a workout, only for extreme beginners
I found this video to be definitely not for me. I have a little experience with Pilates, so the moves were much too basic. Read more

Published on July 4 2004 by S. Stout

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good intro DVD, but you will grow out of it.
This DVD was my introduction to Pilates. I started with the "partially modified" level (medium difficulty) and after the first few times I was getting pretty good at the moves... Read more

Published on Jun 30 2004 by kris

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Well
I have been doing this workout for a couple of months, and I like it. You are given three levels to follow. The third is the most challenging. Read more

Published on Jun 14 2004 by Jon Karsen

1.0 out of 5 stars Boring!
If you want a workout video for the scenery, I guess this might be for you. If you also want a workout video for the reputation and work record of the people featured in it, then... Read more

Published on Jun 1 2004 by Eleanor Sundwall

3.0 out of 5 stars Slow Paced Pilates
Being more used to a fast paced Pilates sequence, I was a bit disappointed with this video. This video covered a lot of the common sequences that I'm familiar with but at a much... Read more

Published on April 14 2004 by A. Vegan

4.0 out of 5 stars The Good The Bad and The Ugly
**The Good...I am very overweight. I started doing this workout because I wanted to explore some Pilate and Yoga Techinques. I really enjoyed this video. Read more

Published on Mar 13 2004 by mzkandyonkrome

3.0 out of 5 stars This is a rating for the DVD.
Pluses:

1. Incorporates some yoga, especially stretches.
2. Very pleasant voice, unlike most "workout" tapes, which are too "peppy" for my tastes... Read more

Published on Mar 12 2004 by Michael J. Austin

2.0 out of 5 stars Mixed Feelings on this one.
I really enjoyed the 10 minute segment on getting centred and learning the correct breath and form techniques. Read more

Published on Feb 28 2004

4.0 out of 5 stars "For Weight Loss" doesn't always mean calorie-burning
There are a number of videos on the market that incorporate yoga or pilates or other systems that have "weight loss" in the title, and these videos always get knocked by the... Read more

Published on Feb 20 2004 by funniegrrl

3.0 out of 5 stars A gentle Pilates workout
In this video, Suzanne Deason offers a very gentle, slow-moving Pilates workout. She begins with a 10 minute section called "Creating Awareness" which focuses on form and breath;... Read more

Published on Jan 29 2004 by Beth Cholette

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