Pilates Conditioning for Weight Loss

Suzanne Deason
Year Released: 2001

Categories: Pilates/Core Strength


This is a 40 minute Pilates workout, following a 10 minute breath session. The breathing section was done by a beautiful ocean location, but the rest of the tape was filmed in a meadow on Maui. I'd say the workout was beginner to intermediate.

Overall, I liked the workout, but Suzanne changes nearly every Pilates move from how I learned it. The side series she tick-tocks the legs without the 3 beats to the front & back. Also during the bicycle kick moves, she raises the inner thigh on the resting leg, but doesn't mention this until the other side. I thought she wasn't using her core and was losing balance when I first saw this. Supposedly she is adding inner thigh work. For this area, she also does isolated lifts, then circles both ways which is better than a majority of Pilates videos.

For the bottom, she does many bridge poses in a row. I really felt this. The ab work seemed easy in comparison. There were the Hundred and criss cross exercises, but the rest were all variations of classic Pilates. I'm not sure if I learned it wrong, or if she has her own take on the moves. During the Saw, she went amazingly fast and during another back twist sitting upright, she seemed to be jerking and her neck looked mechanical. There were 2 other exercisers giving modifications.

I'm still undecided how I feel about this video, but I liked the setting, and the music was wonderful.

Instructor Comments:
She always seems to have an awareness session or long breathing lesson before each of her tapes. I don't fully understand why, but it may be a timewaster for most folks.

Peta R.

07/13/2002