Customer Reviews

Method: Pilates - Target Specifics (Full Screen)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Jennifer Kries has created a challenging intermediate to advanced workout in response to requests for workouts to address specific areas of the body. If you are looking for a great full-body workout, you can do all four workouts one after the other. If you are short on time or just want to work on one area of your body, you can choose from four workouts:

Abs (15 minutes)
Arms (15 minutes) - Need 1-3lb weights
Hips (15 minutes)
Thighs (15 minutes)

You will recognize many of the signature "Method" postures and exercises in this workout, however there are quite a few surprises. Not only are all the exercises even more precise than before, they seem to be the "next" challenge. The pace is slightly faster at times and the "dégagé" reaches a new level of intensity.

Some of the Exercises:

The Hundred
Roll-Up
Leg Circles
Rolling Like a Ball
Double-Leg Lower Lift
CrissCross
Active Moving Cat
Active Cat with Yoga Press
Down Dog
Exercises from the Side Series for Legs
Swimming
Sun Salutation
Standing Sculpting Series
Chest Expansion
Boxing
Plié Series (makes you feel like you are doing ballet)

It is helpful to have Jennifer Kries' new book: Pilates Plus Method to learn the names of all her exercises and read the finer details of how your body should feel as you work through each exercise. She also gives excellent advice about the dégagé:

"Try to feel as if you were pushing your foot through the sand on the beach, moving with great resistance." (from her new book)

There is hardly time to give extra advice, but Jennifer still manages to give you tips throughout this workout. If you have been doing her exercise videos over the years you will almost "hear her advice in your mind" as you go through the exercises.

If you are just starting to exercise with Jennifer Kries try:

The Method - Pilates: Precision Sculpting (1996)
The Method - Pilates: Precision Toning (1996)
The Method - All in One Workout (1997)
The Method - Precision Yoga (1998)
Pilates Method and 3-Dimensional Toning Box Set (2002)

The Method Pilates "Target Specifics" seems to be the most advanced workout I've tried so far when I do all four sections in one hour. If you can make it through the list above, you are ready for this workout. Once you complete Target Specifics, you will reach a new level of confidence and fitness. For me, this was the next level in my Pilates practice. The drums keep you motivated and keep you at the pace you need to be to burn those calories! Definitely an intermediate to advanced workout.

If you are just starting to do Pilates, it might be difficult to learn the moves and keep up with the fast pace. Start with some of the slower paced workouts from 1996 and learn the basics. I'd also recommend finding the Winsor Pilates workouts because they are excellent for anyone who is just discovering these amazing exercises.

Results from The Method workouts include:

Flat, firm stomach without having to do sit-ups or crunches
Defined buns without lunges
Sculpted Legs without bouncy aerobic exercises
Tones arms without heavy weights
Improved posture and flexibility. Even your feet become more flexible.
Mind and Body Healing - Your mind becomes calm and your body feels invigorated.

If you are looking for a Pilates/Ballet/Yoga challenge, this is it.

~TheRebeccaReview.com

I've been using this DVD for a quick 15 or 30 minute exercise every day, and it works wonders. I alternate which routine I do (stomach, arms, hips or thighs) for a total "toned" look.

Jennifer Kries is a great instructor. She speaks in terms that someone new to pilates can understand, and really gives you motivation without being annoyingly perky. I've been using this DVD for a couple months now, and haven't tired of it. Thats a record for me.

Since I started this DVD, I look more fit and toned than I have in years. My husband is very impressed with the results, especially on my butt. I highly recommend this for anyone at any fitness level.

My first Jennifer Kries purchases were her newest set, The New/Pilates Method. Between those three videos, she covers a lot of ground- anyone who enjoys yoga, Pilates and dance would do well to take a look at those. When I heard about about Target Specifics, I wasn't sure that I would find a whole lot that I didn't already have in that series. Curiousity got the best of me, and I made the purchase.

This is a great DVD to have in your collection. If you're short on time, you can pick the area that you need to work on that day. If you want to make this a full workout, you can use the entire program.

For abs, Kries includes almost the entire Intermediate Pilates mat program. As with all Pilates programs, proper form is important here if you want to feel the work. If you're new to Pilates, you may want to watch this section a few times before you join in.

For the arms and upperbody, Kries uses most of the Standing Sculpting series as well as a few yoga-inspired moves. A lot of people have mixed feelings about this work. It would be very difficult to get large muscles or even gain significant upper body strength using these light dumbbells (3 to 5 lbs is the maximum recommended). However, proper technique will contribute to overall integrated strenght, that is, properly using your center as well as your limbs. Again, this may be better done after viewing a few times.

At first glance, there is quite a bit of repetition between the Thighs and Hips section, and that can be annoying. However, upon closer examination, there are enough differences to justify doing both sections. The Hips section is predominantly ballet and Pilates movements. The moves here concentrate on lateral movement, thus more effectively targeting the hips. A bunch of plies as well as tendus and degages (ballet kicks) are performed here. You may want to modify if you have sensitive knees.

The Thighs section uses a small bit of ballet and Pilates, concentrating on yoga. This section includes Sun Salutations (sneaking in some upper body strengthening as well), Awkward Chairs/Fierce Pose and Lunges (again, modify if your knees are not your strong suit).

There is quite a bit of overlap between this and Kries' newer offerings. However, it would be a good way to introduce yourself to her fusion-style in small pieces before you take the plunge into some of her longer tapes.

I'd done other pilates DVD's before, and enjoyed them, but there are only so many moves you can do. I just love this combination of pilates, yoga, and ballet exercises.... they all prioritize form, strength, and flexibility. If you want toned arms (which most pilates vidoes neglect), this is the DVD for you! Even though you may be working on legs with simple ballet moves, holding your arms out gracefilly is toning them at the same time. You really feel it.
I love Jennifer's attitude, she's direct, pleasant,inspiring, and not over the top. The music, a simple drumbeat, fades into the background (which is great after the 20th time) and helps with timing.
Someone else here wrote that they'd tried it once and never would again. Maybe it would help to use a beginner pilates video and save this one for when you've mastered the first one. This is an intermediate skill level, which I was ready for. It's my favorite Workout and I will be looking for more from the Method Series!

I liked this workout. The moves were challenging and increased my flexibity with constant use. I use 2 pound ankle and wrist weights to increase the intensity.
My only complaint is that it tended to be a bit monotonous at times.

I was looking for a workout that's more geared towards a dancer. The parts of this DVD that are more like dance are quite simplistic and not challenging at all. The other parts are all on the floor, which is nothing like dancing, of course! I would say that 85% of the movements take place on the floor.

The cuing isn't great. The thing is that a lot of the time you have to face the floor during the exercises, so cuing becomes incredibly important. Sometimes the movements are not complicated at all, but because they aren't explained and I'm facing the floor, I'm totally lost.

The music is fine, just a subtle drum beat. There are way too many dancers, a bit distracting. The movements aren't terribly complicated, but of course few are as flexible as the dancers, so don't get discouraged if you can't lift your leg up to the sky like they do.

How will this affect my overall toning and flexibility? I don't know, since I haven't been able to force myself to do the DVD more than 5 times. I can't even suggest an alternative, since I haven't found any workout DVD yet that's very much like dance without a lot of floor work.

The video is great to work out with if you just need toning in specific areas. It definately will not help you loose a lot of weight if that is what you are looking to do. Her explanations of the exercises are great. They are a little challenging at first especially the ballet movements. All in all it is a great video for toning.

I ABSOLUTELY hated this video. Jennifer flies through the video never concentrating on poise and position, which is MOST important when doing yoga and pilates. The tape is more concerned with "looking the part" of a yoga tape than giving you a strong base knowledge to take away from it. I would never work out to this tape again. There are a lot of pilates tapes on the market, I would suggest buying any other one but this one.

This DVD is comprised of four parts totalling almost an hour. Although it's fun to do half of it or just one part, I like doing the whole workout because of the different exercises and variety.

The arms, abs, hips, thighs are worked. She mixes some yoga moves with pilates and ballet, for a mix of standing and mat work. I like this for ballance and core strenth and arm toning, but it is not a traditional pilates workout do to the mix. If you like variety this is good for you. You don't need a mat if you have carpet.

When I finish I feel as though I have had a good workout. If you need moderate cardio training or more, you need something else. Although you do burn a lot of calories doing the exercises, your heart needs a heavier workout a couple times a week to stay healthy.

The arm segment uses light 2 or 3 lb weights, although you could use heavier or none at all using resistance. The background music is on bongo drums like a tribal sound, so that can get a tiny bit irritating, but not too bad.

This is a good dvd to have in your collection in my opinion because it is a good workout, exercising your entire body, introduces some yoga, ballet and pilates as well as weights so a beginner can catch on easily but the intermediate person to advanced level can also have fun. I enjoy the workout, especially when I don't have enough energy for a hard core workout or if you just want to crawl out of bed and wear your pj's, as it's barefoot, low impact, and great if you have injuries or just need some variety.

I'd buy it again. I'd probably give it 4.5 stars if that was an option.

I was happy when I picked up this DVD to find that it is not as long as the Pilates All In One Work out (which was an hour and a half!) - this work out squeezes all the necessary exercises into one hour... anything that saves me time is a good thing!
Starts off: 15 Minutes of Abdominal exercises (they really work.. they helped me lose my baby belly after I had my daughter)They are pretty difficult, though. I found that it took me a long time to be able to do these exercises without taking breaks. But you know it's working 'cause you can already feel the burn 30 seconds into the workout!

Then 15 minutes of arms - this really helps you tone up your arms... but don't expect to really bulk up. This is just a basic beginners work out to keep the extra skin from flapping underneath your arms - you won't become a body builder from this! They are not very difficult at all.. even if you have no strength training experience at all, you should be able to do these... you may have to take short breaks here and there, but keep up with it and you'll get better.

Then 15 minutes of hips, which is great because it's always been my "problem area" and there aren't that many exercises out there that specifically target the hip area. This work out helps my jeans and skirts fit so much better and makes me feel much better about the way I look! They're a little difficult at first, but if you keep with them you will get better and be able to do them!

Then last is 15 minutes of thighs which are all standing and floor exercises target to your thigh area to help tone and strengthen to help you shed fat, flab, and inches. They are difficult... I've heard that your thigh area is the hardest area on the human body to tone and keep toned - I don't disagree. These exercises are very challenging, but start off at your own pace and you will gradually get better and better.

I try to do this work out 3-5 times a week, depending on my schedule... It has really helped keep me in good shape. it's especially great to own if you're like me - I'm a stay at home mom and I don't have the luxury of being able to leave my house multiple times a week so that I can work out, and I don't have very much free time on my hands.
So, I put this dvd in when the kids are napping and I get in a good work out and then shower... saves much more time (and money!)than heading out to a gym.
If you're serious about finding a routine that you want to stick to, then I recommend this video.
If you're looking to burn a lot of fat though (say over ten pounds) you're going to also have to get an aerobics dvd also, there are no aerobic exercises on here. Just muscle and strength training.