Suzanne Bowen
I’m reviewing this workout after doing it in its entirety 3 times.
General workout breakdown: As with all 10 Minute Solution videos, this DVD contains 5 separate 10-min. sections, each with their own focus.
- Lower Body Pilates: breathing while seated, single leg circles, down & up, out & in, frog legs, side leg series (up & down, hot potato variation, inner thigh lift), donkey kicks, reverse plank into leg pull front, and bridge.
- Upper Body Pilates: shoulder circles, zip up, bug, boxing, biceps curl, triceps press back, lateral raise, arm circles with arms out to side, draw the sword, paint under the stairs (an overhead triceps extension), biceps press ups, chest press, scapular press, hug, and stretches for shoulders and chest.
- Pilates for Abs: spinal twist, hundred, half roll-down with arms angled, half roll down with twist, rolling like a ball, long spine stretch, single leg stretch, single straight leg stretch, double leg stretch, double straight leg stretch, teaser series, and cat & cow stretch.
- Total Body Pilates: standing leg lift to side and to back, row & bent arm lateral raise with leg lifted behind, thigh stretch w/ upper body twist, triceps push-ups into side plank w/ arm lift, corkscrew on forearms, and can can.
- Pilates for Flexibility: side bend, arm circles, standing saw, half standing forward bend w/ weight shift, plie with triceps stretch, sun salutation (forward bend - plank - upward-facing dog - downward-facing dog - child’s pose with stretch to each side), low lunge -pigeon - pretzel / mermaid side bend, roll down into reclining leg stretches, and reclining spinal twist w/ legs bent.
As you might expect from a Pilates workout, the emphasis is on quality over quantity. In other words, Suzanne never does more than 4-8 reps. There’s not a lot of down time between exercises. The pace is fairly quick but never rushed.
Level: I’d recommend this to exercisers with some experience, flexibility, and strength under their belt plus a good working knowledge of Pilates. Suzanne provides some form instruction and tips and a few modifications, but these won’t be enough if you’ve never done Pilates before. This is probably best suited for those practicing Pilates at the low to mid-intermediate level, although the use of a band with a little less resistance would make this approachable for beginner / intermediates while a band of more resistance would bump this up to high intermediate.
Class: Suzanne alone, who instructs live.
Music: instrumental music. It’s pleasant but nothing special.
Set: bright interior space with wood floor and exercise equipment and other accessories along back wall.
Production: super crisp picture, clear sound. The instructor’s voice is louder than the music. The camera angles are helpful rather than distracting.
Equipment: mat (or equivalent, if needed) and a 6’ resistance band (one comes with new DVDs; you’ll want to choose one of an appropriate resistance for your level). You may want a chair, other piece of furniture, or wall for the standing leg series in the Total Body segment.
Space Requirements: enough room to move your arms and legs around while standing and lying down.
DVD Notes: Suzanne’s introduction can be skipped. As with all of the 10 Minute Solutions, you can play all of the segments in the order they appear, choose one, or create a personalized workout by picking and choosing between the two segments.
Comments: This video would be a good option for someone who can’t or doesn’t want to use weights for whatever reason, such as travel.
The three 10 Minute Solution Pilates workouts – the original 10 Minute Solution Pilates with Lara Hudson, 10 Minute Solution Rapid Results Pilates with Lara Hudson, and this one (I don’t have the Prenatal or the stability ball Pilates ones) are different enough to justify having all three. They have the exact same format, so the difference is in type of exercises included. The original sticks primarily to traditional matwork, Rapid Results contains a number of the apparatus moves adapted to matwork, and Slim & Sculpt has more of the apparatus moves but still a good dose of traditional matwork moves with the band. I personally would find it hard to choose between the three because each has their place in my collection and is great for those time-crunched days when I just want to get in a short Pilates segment or for those days when I’m in recovery. Of the three, Rapid Results edges out the original and the Slim & Sculpt for most challenging for me.
Since this video came out about the same time as Shape Pilates Workout: Makeover Your Abs, Butt, and Thighs Fast!, which also uses a resistance band to mimic reformer and cadillac exercises and to punch up traditional matwork moves, I’ll post some thoughts comparing the two workouts. The major difference between the two is structure: the Shape has the 30 min. workout that incorporates lower body, abs, and some upper body plus the 10 min. segment for upper body, while the 10 Min. Solution has 10 min. segments for lower body, upper body, abs, total body, and stretch. Interestingly, the instructors sometimes use the band differently, even for the same exercises; for example, Lizbeth of the Shape Pilates workout has you wrap the band around your curved upper body for rolling like a ball while Suzanne has you ball it up and stick it between your feet as you roll. The Shape has more of a fluid, dance-like feel to it, while the 10 Min. Solution feels like a series of exercises performed one after another. The 10 Min. Solution uses Pilates exercises for the upper body instead of the gym-style or more athletic exercises in the Shape bonus; that said, the 10 Min. Solution total body segment seemed more gym- than Pilates-inspired, and its stretch portion is yoga-inspired. The Shape devotes slightly more time to the lower body, and that leg series can be rather grueling by the time you get to the end of the line for the one leg, but it doesn’t include the nice final stretch that the 10 Min. Solution does. Suzanne is more talkative than Lizbeth, but neither start babbling inanely or saying ridiculous things. I wouldn’t be surprised if people who have both find themselves pretty much evenly split between those who like one vs. those who like the other. I personally prefer the 10 Min. Solution because I like the flexibility of the DVD, with its ability to program the number and order of segments; the organization into neatly divided segments; and the fact that it’s evenly divided between body parts and includes a final stretch to boot.
Instructor comments:
Suzanne has a pleasant, low key personality. Even though she’s young she comes off as knowledgeable and comfortable in front of the camera, constantly appealing to the viewer by looking into the camera, as if she’s right there to check to make sure you’re with her. She focuses both on cueing, with a good amount of form instruction and tips as well as mirror cueing, and on encouraging, with a focus on results and appearance (especially the back of the arms, because “who doesn’t want to work that?”). She points out some of the moves adapted from the reformer or cadillac, and she encourages you to grab lower on the band to keep challenging yourself – two touches I like.
KathAL79
April 5, 2008
