Kathy Smith: Peel Off the Pounds Pilates

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A 57-minute light cardio and toning routine centered around Pilates principles. Kathy Smith instructs.

Advanced beginning exercisers, and intermediates who are looking for a beneficial “light” day. You should be familiar with Pilates, as this is not a basic, instructional DVD. You wear athletic shoes for the 25-minute cardio segment, but go barefoot for the toning routines. You will need a mat and a light (around 3-pound) pair of dumbbells.

It seems like every fitness expert is releasing quickie workouts these days, and with good reason&nIn this Pilates-influenced workout, Kathy Smith takes it a little easy… but not too easy. It starts off with a graceful, lower-impact cardio workout that requires a lot of long limbed moves and core engagement, so you may not be moving as fast or as intensely as usual, but chances are you’ll still work up a bit of a sweat by the end. The toning segments start off with a standing, mostly upper body routine (although keep in mind that with Pilates, all the moves emanate from the core, even when you are primarily moving your limbs). Then you get on the mat for the floor work, which mainly targets your core and lower body — the Pilates-savvy will recognize most of these moves, consisting of leg lifts, circles, single leg stretches and the like. (Incidentally, the breakdown on the DVD says that the two toning segments are 10 minutes apiece, but they actually run a few minutes longer.) If you’ve ever done Jennifer Kries’ Method workouts,
this routine will have a ring of familiarity for you. Unlike Kries, however, Smith is not someone whose life was steeped in Pilates, and as a result her instruction isn’t as exacting. So it’s best to come into this workout knowing some of the finer points of Pilates exercises. This workout is good for those times advanced beginning or intermediate exercisers want a light day; because the Pilates instruction isn’t very deep, it’s not necessarily a good workout for exercise newbies.