Rating: 
Summary: Great workout!
Review: ... I LOVED THIS VIDEO!! Kathy really knows how to instruct on proper form. I have found that the better my form becomes the more intense this workout gets. THANKS KATHY!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Great workout
Review: As a person who has been doing Yoga for a while I have been dying to try Pilates. I usually buy Kathy Smith tapes so I was very excited to see that she came out with a Pilates tape. The workout is great and it goes very quickly. Pilates seems harder than Yoga, but that probably makes it a better workout.I am hoping that Kathy will soon come out with more Pilates based workouts (hopefully in DVD format). This is defintely worth the money. It is a very cheap way to find out if you like Pilates.
Rating: 
Summary: Still too difficult for a beginning exerciser new to Pilates
Review: As opposed to other reviewers I found this very difficult to follow and do. I would pick a class with hands on instruction instead I think. Usually, with Kathy's other videos I have had no problem following along -- I love her functionally fit lower and upper body workouts, her kickboxing video, her timesaver weights and cardio routines etc. All of those were wonderful and posed no special challenge. I could do pretty much every move by try two and absolutely everything after a week or so. I found it impossible to follow this one though despite two tries. Probably better to try pilates if you are an advanced exerciser. And p.s. I have tried the Method videos and I like Kathy much better since she is so motivational.
Rating:
Summary: good beginner workout
Review: At the start of this video, Kathy Smith takes a full 7 minutes to discuss proper form and alignment. She covers important Pilates terms such as the powerhouse, and she also offers detailed form pointers including how to pull your navel toward your spine, how to tilt your pelvis, and how to contract your pelvic floor (similar to Kegel exercises). Although I was already familiar with Pilates, I found this section to be a very helpful refresher, and I appreciated Kathy's unique instruction. Kathy then moves on to the workout. Although she doesn't do the moves in the classic Pilates sequence--she notes that she altered the sequence to focus even more specifically on the abs--she does start with the typical Pilates first exercise, the Hundred. She performs this and other moves at a modified level while her assistant, Lija, demonstrates more challenging positions. The exercises include lesser-known Pilates moves such as the Can-Can and the Mermaid as well as a yoga pose, Bridge. Kathy offers form reminders throughout the workout, and I found this to be particularly helpful in making sure that the work was concentrated in my abs. The entire workout is over in a quick 20 minutes, but by the end, my abs definitely felt the work. Although this workout is appropriate for those at a beginning level, I wouldn't recommend it to someone totally brand new to Pilates, as it proceeds a bit too quickly. Instead, a Pilates novice could use either Ana Caban's Beginner's Mat Work or Hilary Burnett's Pilates for Beginners to obtain more detailed instruction on performing the movements. Once the basic technique is learned, however, this workout is appropriate for beginning or intermediate Pilates practitioners who want a short program which specifically targets the abdominal muscles.
Rating:
Summary: Great technique pointers make this a great abs workout!
Review: At the start of this video, Kathy Smith takes a full 7 minutes to discuss proper form and alignment. She covers important Pilates terms such as the powerhouse, and she also offers detailed form pointers including how to pull your navel toward your spine, how to tilt your pelvis, and how to contract your pelvic floor (similar to Kegel exercises). Although I was already familiar with Pilates, I found this section to be a very helpful refresher, and I appreciated Kathy's unique instruction. Kathy then moves on to the workout. Although she doesn't do the moves in the classic Pilates sequence--she notes that she altered the sequence to focus even more specifically on the abs--she does start with the typical Pilates first exercise, the Hundred. She performs this and other moves at a modified level while her assistant, Lija, demonstrates more challenging positions. The exercises include lesser-known Pilates moves such as the Can-Can and the Mermaid as well as a yoga pose, Bridge. Kathy offers form reminders throughout the workout, and I found this to be particularly helpful in making sure that the work was concentrated in my abs. The entire workout is over in a quick 20 minutes, but by the end, my abs definitely felt the work. Although this workout is appropriate for those at a beginning level, I wouldn't recommend it to someone totally brand new to Pilates, as it proceeds a bit too quickly. Instead, a Pilates novice could use either Ana Caban's Beginner's Mat Work or Hilary Burnett's Pilates for Beginners to obtain more detailed instruction on performing the movements. Once the basic technique is learned, however, this workout is appropriate for beginning or intermediate Pilates practitioners who want a short program which specifically targets the abdominal muscles.
Rating:
Summary: disappointed
Review: I bought this video thinking that it would a nice compliment to the other pilates videos that I was buying. However, it is just a short, poorly directed video that is parallel to the other videos that are out there. I thought that it would have some other moves that would highly strengthen my abs, however, I bought Hilary Burnett's Pilates Intermediate which is SSOOOOOOOO much better than this tape by Kathy Smith. Hilary shows all of the same moves and more. Plus, Hilary's instructions are more concise and easier to follow than Kathy's, and Hilary's tape is only a few minutes longer. It is well worth your money to just buy Hilary's tapes and leave Kathy's at the store.
Rating:
Summary: Very Difficult-Need Good Abs
Review: I find this video to be very difficult. The movements require heavy use of your abs (thus the name). If your abs are not very strong, as is the problem with mine, some of the moves are next to impossible. I will continue to use the tape but maybe once I am in better shape. Oh yeah, and she talks too much too!
Rating: 
Summary: Complete waste of my money!
Review: I have always wanted to try Pilates and I bought this thinking I could work on my abs! Or at least do SOMETHING! This DVD is BLANK! I will be writing to complain IMMEDIATLEY!
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous intro to pilates!!
Review: I have been a loyal Kathy Smtih follower for 8 years. When she first came out with this video and I read the reviews I was concerned - several of the reviews were rather critical. Becuse I trust Kathy's intruction I bought it anyway and am thrilled I did. I have several pilates videos (including the Meathod vids) and I would recommend this one above all for beginners. Kathy's explanations of the moves are thorough ( a necessity for proper pilates) and she emphasizes throughout the video how to correctly utilize the powerhouse. Although the production quality is not as high as some of her other videos (and the music is rehashed from her New Yoga series) the video is more than worth the price. After doing this video a few times I was able to turn back to my longer, faster paced, and more advanced pilates workouts and get twice as much out of them as before. Pilates are hard to do correctly (and easy to do wrong) and Kathy provides both beginners and intermediates with the technique and the undersatnding of Joseph Pilates' philosophy to get the maximum benefits out of this wonderful form of muscle toning. Thanks Kathy - you've never let me down!
Rating: 
Summary: Good for Beginner
Review: I really like Kathy's detailed description of how to use your ab muscles and breathe while doing Pilates. But I prefer a longer video-this one is is less than 30 minutes and she talks for a good part of it. It also was less intense than I would have liked. I would have liked a section on Advanced Pilates moves, and this video only features Beginning/Intermediate Pilates. It's not a video that someone already in shape or someone used to doing abdominal work will find challenging.
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