PILATES: Intermediate Mat Workout with Ana Caban

You will see me reviewing a few different DVDs instructed by Ana Caban. She has danced all of her life and was introduced to Pilates while recovering from a back injury. Ana was certified through the New York Pilates studio. There are several different DVD covers for this DVD so as long as it is the same title with Ana Caban it should be the same workout. To the left I have posted the three different covers that I am aware of, the top being the DVD that I own (which also has a bonus 12 min. workout).

Ana has an incredibly lean and toned body, which is very motivating when it gets hard. Ana focuses on concentration, precision and coordination between the body and mind. Engaging and lifting the core and abdominals throughout the workout is an important key to getting the most out of it!

This is a great workout for your abdominals, lower back muscles, and legs. I feel warm (and sweaty), and ready to face the day! The workout lasts about 30 minutes, but she uses the time efficiently so that it is a beneficial workout! Make sure that you do warm up before you participate in DVD work-outs unless a warm-up is included. Warming up will help prevent pulled muscles or strains. Cooling down afterwards is also a good idea with some stretching and meditation.

I particularly like her smooth transitions and that she states the name of each exercise (and it is printed on the screen) which is so helpful in learning this movement vocabulary. For those of you who don't know what Pilates stance is, it is a slightly turned-out position of the legs, like a natural first position in ballet.

This is an intermediate Pilates workout, so that it keeps moving with minimal pauses for explanation. She does have a beginners DVD out if you are interested.

I recommend this workout to anyone looking to trim their waist, strengthen their lower back, tone their body or strengthen their core. 

If you are interested in purchasing this workout DVD click here.

If you are interested in learning more about Ana Caban click here to visit her website!

Happy Training! à bientôt!

CRUNCH: Pick Your Spot Pilates with Ellen Barrett

I have enjoyed the pilates exercises used in dance class warm-ups or conditioning-days in ballet, but in general I hadn't ever been tempted to try a pilates workout DVD until now. So I looked for some DVDs that matched what I was looking for and the first one that I will be reviewing is Pick Your Spot Pilates with Ellen Barrett. This DVD includes three, 10 minute workouts, plus a bonus 10 minute workout. 

The Workouts are split into sections:

• Belly (10 min.) -Mild core work to help you with the breathing and engaging your "powerhouse".
• Butt (10 min.) -The bridge at the end was my favorite and where I started to feel the burn.
• Thighs (10 min.) -My favorite workout on this DVD! I really focused on lengthening and straightening my legs during the appropriate exercises, which increased the burn factor for me.
• +Bonus Total Body Pilates (10 min.) -My second favorite workout continuing the burn after the thighs section.

This DVD is great for beginners and true beginners. You can do one or all of the segments on the DVD. I did all of them back-to-back, and found that my two favorites (where I felt a burn) were the last two, thighs and the bonus routine. I still felt that it was worth doing the belly and butt sections since they were a good warm-up and introduction to breathing techniques for pilates.

This is not a shredding workout DVD but it is a good workout to get your blood flowing and get you breathing. I might supplement other routines I do with the thighs or bonus workouts. If you are new to core work this could be a great start for you! The only thing that I would change is adding a few more stretches. So make sure that after your workout you stretch appropriately the muscles that you worked. This will restore the muscles to their length and prevent "bulking".

If you are interested in purchasing this DVD see below:

Purchase on Amazon

If you are interested in learning more about Ellen Barrett see her website:

ellenbarrett.com

Happy Training! à bientôt!