This is a new brand of Pilates exercise, definitely not traditional at all. And, I was prepared to NOT like it. There are few Crunch workouts I’ve stuck with. This one, however, I will keep for now.

This workout is about 35 minutes and is divided into two sections: a standing aerobics session with Pilates-inspired moves followed by a session on the floor with more traditional Pilates moves, although some of them are not the standard moves. It is not high impact at all, takes little floor space, and requires no equipment (unless you want a mat for the floorwork). For the floorwork, they have a modifier that shows beginner moves. They don’t always show her right at the beginning of the move, but they do show her for most moves. The DVD is around nine chapters with several moves in each chapter. I can’t say I even noticed the music. It had some, but I can't describe it.

Usually, the Crunch background exercisers really irritate me because they are soooo young and soooo trendy. Don’t know why it irritates me, it just does. In this workout, they were still young and trendy, but it didn’t register as much. Additionally, Ellen Barrett makes me feel really elegant and calm through this one.

At the beginning of the workout, I was thinking I wouldn’t keep this workout; I was barely on the negative side. Then, it just sort of sucked me in and I enjoyed it throughout the latter 2/3 of it. Some people will not feel worked out enough; and I can understand that. For me, it will be a good light-day work out when I also want the abs workout of the floorwork.

Instructor Comments:
Ellen gives good form pointers. More than that in this workout, I like her calm encouragement. I feel graceful as I do this workout. Coming from the Klutz Queen, this is a HIGH compliment.

Laura S.