Tell me about your favorite Pilates DVDs
 

I'm trying to get back on track after falling off the wagon & sustaining a knee injury. I have a partially torn miniscus (sp?) and a hairline ligament tear. The MRI also showed the onset of arthritis. :mad:

My dr. is sending me to physical therapy (in hopes of avoiding surgery) & I've decided to clean up my eating habits & get serious again about my exercise regimen.

It's only been a week, but I feel so much better :sun: . My aches have subsided & my energy is back. I've decided to stick with Leslie S. for cardio and Pilates for strength until I am back in action.

I have every Leslie under the sun, so I'm good there. I haven't done Pilates for a while so I've been out of the loop on what's new. Can you recommend your favorite Pilates workouts? I prefer shorter workouts as I like to do this after I walk. Thanks in advance!!

I still like Pilates for Dummies. I don't seem to have a lot of natural abdominal strength, so if I slack off at all, I'm right back at the beginner level :mad: But when things are good, I can jump right into the exercise while Michelle is still introducing it. Sometimes I'll do extra reps while she catches up, or I'll just skip ahead to the next exercise (the dvd is chaptered by exercise) and save time. I like Michelle as an instructor, anyway. Just pleasant and easy to hang out with.

I'm interested too. What I"m most interested in are instructors that don't yap ya to death. I"ve Jonie-O's every Mari Winsor pilates DVD I bought. Kathy Smith talks too much too (I still like her though, just not for pilates) I do have one by Ana Caban that I sometimes do. But I'd like a little variety. I notice my abs seem flatter when I do pilates, more so than traditional ab work.

I love Jules Total Core Pilates- I was mesmerized by that workout and did it repeatedly when I first got it- still use it alot-Christie Taylor produced it.
I just got and Love Trudi Stylers Pure sculpt.I enjoy the 10 minute chapters.
It sure is a fine line with enough instruction and too much instruction.
I also enjoy the Karen Voight pilates workouts.

Weight Loss Pilates by Kristen McGee. It has two premixes that take about 1/2 hour, or you can do the entire thing (I never have, too hard!).

Anything by Ellen Barrett, but I especially like Crunch Pick Your Spot Pilates, Crunch Super Slimdown Pilates Yoga Blend, and Pick Your Level Weight Loss Pilates.

The Just B Method series by Bernadette Giorgi is more ballet focused, but has pilates matwork as well.

10 Minute Solution has several pilates workouts, there are several different ones, even one using a stability ball.

Jennifer Kries also has several different pilates videos and I like the fact that you can start at a beginner level and progress through the series. She has really good instruction throughout.

Shape Cardio Sculpt Pilates is another one.

Also, that new Pilates Sculpt one by Tracey Mallett sounds like a good one (have not tried it yet since it is on backorder).

You may also be interested in Gorgeous Core, has some pilates inspired moves in it.

Lastly, I have one pilates workout that I really like that is short, it is in the Prevention Shortcuts to Big Weight Loss (Chris Freytag) workout. There is a 10-minute pilates sculpt section and it is a pretty good pilates workout for 10 minutes. I would only buy that one if you also want to do the other workouts on it as well (they are pretty good), cardio sculpt and kickboxing sculpt.

My favorite pilates workouts are the 10 Minute Solutions ones. I really like the Quick Sculpt Pilates one (the one with the little ball), and I like Pilates Perfect Body (Suzanne Bowen), and most of Lara Hudson's 10 MS workouts. I also really like Ellen's workouts, and I'm DEFINITELY going to get Tracey Mallett's pilates workout, since I do Tracey M's ab work all of the time.:heart:
I didn't care for Mari Winsor (just didn't click with her), and I didn't like Ana Caban's workouts, either (I think because they're voice over workouts and voice over workouts bug me).

I second Jules Total Core Pilates. The full workout comes in at just under an hour, but maybe you could modify. It would be worth modifying for this workout. She is so cute -- warm and friendly, plus explains things very well. I need to pull this one out. I also like several of Ana Caban's workouts. She is a little more formal than Jules, but a great workout plus gives me some variety.

Hello!
My go-to place for pilates workouts is www.ultimatepilatesworkouts.com, hosted by the Corp twin sisters who run Pilates on 5th in New York.
You can try their workouts for free (like ExerciseTV). There are workouts for every level and ranging from 10 minutes to 60 minutes in length.
The instructors can be a little chatty, but it feels like you are in their studio with them doing the exercises. They give a lot of form pointers, show you how you shouldn't do it, remind you to pull in your belly, or contract your glutes....

You can sign up for free or purchase a membership.

By the way, I have nothing to do with them, I just really like their workouts!

Ana Caban:
Pilates Abs Workout
Core Challenge