Beginner Pilates Mat Workout for Core Strength & Flexibility - Home Exercise & Fitness Routine

Ana Caban is impressive in her easy-to-follow technique explanations, her understanding of beginning Pilates student pitfalls, and her ability to keep things light and entertaining while she instructs. She teaches Pilates breathing well, and reminds the student how their breathing sequence should be throughout each exercise, but leaves off so that they can get used to doing Pilates breathing on their own (as students ought to eventually do on their own). She is so familiar with the places tension easily goes in the body (but shouldn't) or the places that easily move during certain exercises (but shouldn't) that sometimes it feels like having her in the room with me. "Really anchor that right hip," she says just as my right hip starts to drift. "Don't relax yet! Higher!" she says just as I'm feeling like I should relax. It really helps me focus and become stronger.I had already been doing Pilates from another DVD, which is also a helpful DVD and has good exercises at a good pace, but it's doesn't give as much description. (Of course, I've been doing it from segments on YouTube--the DVD itself might have more description elsewhere on the DVD.) When I bought this DVD and started using it, I started to understand the exercises on the other DVD more easily too.This DVD also gives several levels of "Beginner" - almost like a "beginner 1," "beginner 2," and "beginner 3" - without actually having to have actual segments named as such. Ana's assistant, Tara, gives a modified version in the background, which is also very helpful. I advanced to the non-modified versions more quickly than I expected (perhaps because of using the exercises from the other DVD before) though I still struggle with some. It's nice having an easy starting point (Tara's modified version) and then a moderately easy point (Ana's actual version) but still having the good instruction with it. The "beginner 3" part is actually a bonus section on the DVD called "BONUS Pilates Energy Boost Workout." In that, Ana does exercises at her own regular pace, explaining them in a voiceover. It's only a 12-minute workout (the regular workout on the DVD is about half an hour) but the point of Pilates is that you focus your whole body so that you can do just a few exercises in a relatively short amount of time and still be using all your muscles.Another aspect of Pilates (involved in the Pilates breathing) is training your body to use those muscles regularly, so that you're continuing to "exercise" throughout the day just by using your body properly. Since I started this DVD, I've found that I really do hold my muscles differently. My husband says I look a little taller, I've had less pain in my back (in conjunction with chiropractic, but faster repair than what chiropractic used to do), and my leftover baby belly from when I was pregnant with my now-one-year-old is finally starting to go away. I would definitely recommend Pilates to anyone and everyone, and this DVD in particular!