Five different Pilates workouts, ranging from 11 minutes to half an hour. Ana Caban and Jillian Hessel instruct.

Either beginning or intermediate Pilates enthusiasts — each level gets its own workouts. You will need is a mat, and for the first routine, a chair.

Grouping together five Pilates workouts seems like a good idea, but if you're under the impression that you'll use all of these routines consistently — you won't. Two the of the workouts — the first, 25-minute routine, and the last, 11-minute routine — are beginner level. They move slowly and the exercises are modified for people who have little or no Pilates experience. This is fine if that's the level you're at, but then the middle three workouts, each lasting just under half an hour — will be too advanced for you, especially the last of the trio, which includes a standing plyometric routine similar to what you might do with the Pilates jump board if you had a reformer. On the other hand, if you are an intermediate exerciser with Pilates experience, you will enjoy these workouts, which include all the classics (series of five, corkscrew, side series, teasers, etc.), with nice instruction from Ana Caban — just enough detail to keep you moving, but not too chatty. On the other hand, you will find the beginners workouts useless. So this DVD is really "2 Day Fit Pilates" (if you're a beginner) or "3 Day Fit Pilates" (if you're intermediate). That said, beginners could grow into the more advanced routines, although they won't do it overnight. While the instruction is good, it might have been better to create a DVD with routines that had a more consistent level of experience. Here, there's just too big of a learning curve between beginning and intermediate workouts.

 

Note: These routines are culled from earlier DVD releases.