Callanetics are exercises that consists of very deep and precise contractions followed by intense stretching. They seem to be surprisingly effectively. All during the video Callan tells you to "tighten the behind THEN tilt the pelvis up. This really straightens the spine and isolates the targeted muscle so you really can only move it 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch.

The warm up begins with breathing, some intense tricep work, side and leg stretches and some gentle neck rolls. Ab work follows . Again it looks like a crunch but it's not. You try to round your chest into the ribcage. The leg exercises are variations of the ballet plie. The pelvic tilt is crucial. If you do these two right, you will feel as if youv'e done some heaby squats the next day. These are follow by some deep leg stretches on the barre. One exercise show a variation use a coffee table.

Then comes the"wonderful hips and behind." These are tough. Your leg will feel as if it just won't move. It took several video session with the video . The buttocks muscle is so isolated that you can see the actual shape of it and feel it, it's really not as big as you thought but you will need to take a breather. More stretching follows. There is a nice pelvis rotation that i can't do because of my knees. The video ends with another intense exercise, an innter thigh squeeze. A chair is used in the video, I use the edge of a wardrobe chest.

After the end of each segment are some rather cheesy photos with a comment from Callan. This is to encourage you to keep going. However, there is one of a pupil named Jean who had some really serious saddlebags, a definate candidate for a liposuciton. I hope I have the same result because if this is to be believed, these exercises seem to work better than plastic surgery. And for the price of a video, it a helluva whole lot cheaper. Another thing I did like was Callan's choice of words, no negativity here,

About the butt, instead of saying goos or flab she says "turn that pear into that precious little peach."

About the video itself, the studio is nice but there is no co ordinated exercise wear and Callan's leotard seems to be designed to emphasis how much pelvic movement is necessary. I have Super Callanetics (which I didn't do yet, but it does have more exercises from her book. Now that video is well produced. But more on that later.

I would recommend this video for women who have that bottom that just won't lift and simply if you want to improve flexibilty. Acutally I consider this to be a stretch video more than anything else.

Instructor Comments:
Callan Pinchkey is a Southern belle and maverick. Her accent is a cultured southern laced with British. She is a thorough teacher and demonstrate excellent form and like a traditional dance master, she walks among her students checking and correcting their form. She also give good encouragement throughout the video. Callan Pinckney was 47 when she made this video and a recently bought a book, "Callanetics, Fit Forever which was published in either 1995 or 1996. She's still in great shape. This clearly shows that we women can keep their shape and stay in shape all throughout our lives.

Jean L. Wakefield