[.ca] Breakthru: Pilates Plus

From Amazon.com:
Breakthru Pilates Plus is an innovative and powerful 50-minute strength and flexibility workout combining Pilates, ballet, and yoga. Best for the intermediate exerciser, this workout uses body weight for muscle and core strengthening. No equipment is needed, so this workout can be done anywhere, even in a hotel room. The Pilates segment is challenging and not a repeat of the Pilates exercises you find in most videos. The ballet segment is a series of moves done standing, using a chair for balance, primarily working the calves, thighs and buttocks. The strong yoga segment works the whole body. Tracy York and Michelle Dozois are excellent instructors: clear, motivating, warm, and energetic. Even when you can't watch the screen, as in parts of the yoga segment, their verbal instruction is precise enough to take you from pose to pose without confusion. Highly recommended, especially for experienced exercisers seeking variety to spice up their routine. --Joan Price

Very dependable:
I've been using this workout for about two months - normally on my cardio "off days". It is a very challenging workout, but it's almost as if you don't notice how hard you are working because the program flows so well. It has become my favorite workout and I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for something a little different. It's a great early morning workout - it's challenging without being too overwhelming.

Great variety of exercise methods!:
Breakthru Pilates Plus is a wonderful mix of several different exercise methods, with Pilates being only part of the workout. The entire video is about 46 minutes long, and it's broken up into four sections as follows: Section 1: Michelle Dozios leads this stretching segment, which consists mainly of yoga-type stretches, including some sun salutation variations. About 8 minutes. Section 2: Tracy York begins this segment, which focuses on Pilates. The exercises performed here clearly are rooted in Pilates, yet they are modified from traditional Pilates matwork. Some of moves are deceptively simple (e.g., leaning back to engage your abs and then punching to each side), but I could really feel the work in my abdominal area. Following the lying abs work, you roll onto your side for some additional unique abs moves as well as Pilates side kick type moves. A really challenging series containing plank moves combined with push-ups comes next; you will also do "decellerated push-ups," a slower moving tricep pushup. Michelle takes over to repeat the exercises on the other side as well as to do a second pushup series. At 17 minutes, this is the longest section of the workout. Section 3: This is the ballet-inspired section led by Michelle. Using a chair for ballance, you will do simple plies, leg raises, and leg kicks, first on one side and then repeating on the other side. These exercises were definitely tougher than they looked, and I found it difficult to emulate Michelle and Tracy's perfect form. This section lasted about 12 minutes. Section 4: This was the yoga segment, and it consisted of about 8 minutes of standing yoga poses, including warrior, side angle, chair, and standing forward bends. Tracy leds this section, and she provides good instructions on alignment. The workout ends rather abruptly with a very brief stretch at the end of this segment. I really enjoyed this workout; the wide variety combined with the segmented format to hold my interest, and because of this, I know that I won't easily tire of this video. Michelle and Tracy were both good instructors who provided good cuing, and for many of the exercises, one of them shows a modified version. They occasionally chatted back and forth, but not to the point of being annoying or disrupting the flow of the routine. This is a perfect workout for intermediate exercises like myself who enjoy doing a wide variety of methods in a relatively short period of time.

I Loved It!:
Some portions were intense like the yoga push ups. But other than that, I enjoyed the routines immensely. I have Core Conditioning by the pair and found that the routine which was primarily pilates based, put too much pressure on my neck. The variety in this workout is more versatile. In my opinion, if you've never done ballet, they make the movements easy. I enjoy the tape and will log on to their website to check out the tape that incorporates weight training.

Best Thing I've Found!:
I have not worked out in almost ten years. In fact, I don't get much exercise at all, I have a desk job and walking to and from the car has been about it. Fortunately, I'm blessed with "thin" genes. But, I have a lot of body pain, joint stiffness...and very high cholesterol. My doctor said to start moving, didn't matter what it was, just MOVE! I don't like to walk or do aerobics, so on the way home from my labwork, I stopped at our library to try out a tape and there was Breakthu Pilates Plus. What a find! I love this tape! While in the beginning I could not get through the whole thing at once, I did like that I could do just part and not feel like I stopped in the middle of something. Also, the girls continually coach through the whole tape to find the place that feels right for you. I didn't feel pushed to keep up like some of the program's I've ~watched~ on tv. I now own the dvd and it's the best money I've ever spent on myself! Each morning, I get up and at least do the ballet session, it really gets my energy level up. If I have time, I do the rest of the program. At night I do the yoga and it really helps me relax and sleep better. This tape has been the best find for me. My body pains and aches are less and less each day, my cholesterol is coming down and I feel good. It is something I look forward to doing each day, I don't dread doing the exercises! Tracy and Michelle seem like they are two good friends in my living room, helping me through this workout. I highly recommend this program! Thanks, Tracy and Michelle!

Good instruction:
Tracy and Michelle are excellent instructors. The reason Michelle's form is so great during the ballet portion is because she is a professionally trained dancer. Apparently she danced professionally for years and caught the aerobic fitness bug from a fellow dancer. The rest is history. The dance training definitely enhances her ability.