Rating: 
Summary: Best Pilates video out there!
Review: I am a certified Pilates instructor, and this is the only video series that I will recommend to my clients. Ana Caban makes the video fun to watch and easy to follow. All of the other videos on the market are slow & boring! Plus, the video follows the way that Joseph Pilates, himself, created the exercises! So if you are looking to start Pilates, this is an excellent way to do it at home, safely.
Rating:
Summary: Great for after pregnancy
Review: I love this video for giving me back my back and front after having a baby. It kept my interest by giving me different versions of the exercises to work up to, while not having to get bored doing too may reps.I never had the typical soreness after a workout, but gradually began noticing my muscle tone dramatically improving. I have ordered the intermediate and can't wait to add some new moves. I use this video in conjunction with "The Pilates Body" book to give me a better explanation of the point of each exercises, as well as tips to make them easier or more challenging.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent tape
Review: Beginning is what it says and beginning is what it is. Not so basic that it's useless and not so intermediate that you're lost. Plus, every exercise includes mofications to make them easier or more challenging and the entire workout flows very smoothly. An EXCELLENT introduction to Pilates. I was sore for nearly two days after using it, and it's become one of my favorites.
Rating: 
Summary: Not real good
Review: I didn't really like this video at all. It goes the right pace the first couple of exercises, but then she goes so fast, I'm not really sure what I'm doing. I didn't feel sore the next day as I hoped I would. I wouldn't really recommend this video to anyone. Maybe regular classes with real live trainers would be better at first, so you know you're doing the exercises right, and then get a video.
Rating: 
Summary: Too short, too fast, but worth a try
Review: I have taken "live" pilates classes where the moves are slower so you can foucus on your muscle groups, movements, and breathing. With this tape, I feel like I'm whipping through the movements witout knowing if I'm exhaling, inhaling, "engaging my powerhouse," or what! I'm just trying to keep up, then BAM! The program is over. On a positive side, she does know her pilates well: the philosophy, the stances, the movements, etc. I'm glad I took classes before watching this tape so I had some background knowledge myself. I do the tape regularly and am hoping to see some results..........
Rating:
Summary: A Pilates Video that was worth the wait
Review: Ana Caban does a fantastic job of taking the viewer through all of the beginner mat work exercises. I have been waiting for a good Pilates video to help me flow through all of the movements without having to keep looking at a book (by the way Brooke Siler's Pilates book makes an excellent backup to this video to clarify any questions on the moves demonstrated in the workout). A great component of this video is that while Ana demonstrates the basic beginner matwork, a student simultaneously demonstrates the modified beginner positions so you can learn the technique and eventually build your strength and flexibility to work up to the basic beginner level. Further I enjoyed the photography and found Ana to be a very likeable, down-to-earth and very thorough instructor.
Rating:
Summary: Decent Pilates, lousy photography
Review: I've been taking private Pilates lessons (machines and mat) for three months, and I bought this tape as a supplement I could do at home. Caban's Pilates style is mostly right-on, tho' like so many Pilates videotapes, she emphasizes the "powerhouse" of the inner abs to the exclusion of other, equally important, elements of Pilates form, such as relaxed shoulders (pulling down with your lats to "meet" the ab muscles pulling back), and disengaging the quads so that abs do the work. Otherwise, I found her counts and directions to be pretty helpful as I did my own mat work. The worst thing about this video was the sloppy, aren't-we-slick-like-MTV camera work. I found myself immediately annoyed by camera cuts that had *nothing* to do with what Caban was talking about. After the umpteenth time the camera zoomed in on a face when the focus was on stomach or legs, I about near screamed with frustration! Overall, I'd say this video was OK, but definitely no substitute for a real Pilates class with an instructor who will work with you on a regular basis.
Rating: 
Summary: Video is good companion to Siler book.
Review: Ana Caban's video is a very good one for a beginner. I find that tapes and books by actual Certified Pilates instructors to be much better than those "based on the technigues" of Joseph Pilates. I also prefer workouts without machines or "props". I bring a mat along when I travel to continue my exercise routine. While the instructor in this video does not explain the correct breathing techniques later in the video, I found it to be an excellent beginners workout. To help fill in the gaps, I recommend Brooke Siler's book, "The Pilates Bocy". It has a complete introduction to the history of Pilates and 34 beginner, intermediate, and advanced exercises plus extra advanced exercises and an arm series. The book is top rate, and I find that Ana Caban has great technique in the video. Together, the book and the video help me to do the exercises correctly and stay motivated.
Rating:
Summary: Things to remember when using this tape
Review: "Pilates Matbased Workout for Beginners" With Ana Caban offers a variety of workouts regardless of your fitness level. I'm recovering from chemotherapy and my current goal is to use this use tape daily. It is just long enough to provde the practitioner with a sustained workout and not so long as to diminish ones confidence that it can be completed. Like any worthwhile experience this Pilates tape can be used for a deep workout with absolute focus on the "powerhouse" OR you can pursue this superficially doing the moves with scant attention to the powerhouse. It will be what you make it. As a video taped presentation, Ms. Caban's frame of mind is, as she might say, "perky." The editing process has left out a few important aspects of instruction: (1) leg placement in at least one of the movements is not indicated, (2) breathing pattern - when to breathe in, when to breathe out is not always addressed (3) There is no reverse of the single leg circle exercise in which Ms. Caban asks that we imagine our double leg in Pilates stance as a pencil that will draw a circle on the ceiling. While it's obviously been produced with a generational spin - I refer to the quick cuts, cutie posing after the workout, the music - other folks LIKE ME can easily benefit from this tape.
Rating:
Summary: Not much of a workout
Review: I got the beginner tape which I thought was a good introduction to pilates, my main complaint is with the length of the tape which is misleadingly stated to be "40 minutes" - it is more like 15 minutes with another 25 of Ana rambling on - I have to do the tape twice and fast forward in certain parts to make sure I get some kind of workout!
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