Plyo Pilates

I recently picked up this DVD at a used book sale. Although I was not familiar with the instructor, Laura Tarbell, I was intrigued because the cover described it as "intermediate advanced Pilates," as I'm a daily exerciser who is experienced in Pilates and generally consider myself to be high intermediate. Furthermore, I tend to enjoy plyometric work, so overall, this workout seemed like it would be a good fit for me.

The Main Menu offers options for Introduction & Principles of Pilates - Start Workout - Chapter Selection. In the 6.5-minute intro, Tarbell provides an overview of the workout and reviews basic Pilates principles, such as breathing and positioning of the spine. For the workout, Tarbell is joined by two background exercisers, each of who show some modifications. A mat and a stability ball are used, and all of the exercisers are wearing athletic shoes--necessary for the plyo work, but rather inconvenient for the Pilates matwork portions.

Tarbell begins the 5-minute warm-up on the mat. She moves slowly through simple warm-up exercises such as knee circles, legs in and out, shoulder bridge, and arm circles; the Pilates hundred concludes the warm-up sequence.

For the main body of the workout, Tarbell alternates between plyometric moves and Pilates matwork, both with and without the stability ball. The exercises are listed below.

*standing 2-legged jump, 30 seconds
*Pilates ab series (single leg stretch, criss-cross, double leg stretch, scissors)
*2nd set of standing 2-legged jump
*shoulder bridge, 2 sets (2nd set on toes)
*1 leg jumps, side 1
*elbow plank on ball, side 1
*1 leg jumps, side 2
*elbow plank on ball, side 2
*"plus" jumps (R-L-center-center)
*pikes with feet on ball; keep feet on ball for planks up & down (spider push-ups)
*split jumps ending with held lunge, 2 sets
*on floor, Russian twists and v-ups
*standing speed skaters
*lying on ball (elevated bridge), several sets of "butt blasters" (i.e., legs apart, legs together, legs turned out)
*lunge jumps
*rollover (10 total)
*2nd set lunge jumps
*rollover to v-sit balance (10 total)
*elbow plank position for spider push-ups and ins/outs; end with push-up holds
*squat jumps
*teasers
*2nd set elbow plank series
*side lying leg lifts and leg circles with ball

Tarbell concludes the workout with a VERY QUICK stretch (1.5 minute) consisting of the shell stretch, down dog, and standing breath work.

At first, I thought that I was going to enjoy this workout, but I quickly discovered that it was definitely more "advanced" than "intermediate." Although I thought Tarbell had a nice personality, she gives NO instruction or form pointers on how to perform the Pilates moves. This was fine for me, as I'm very experienced with Pilates and was already familiar with the exercises. However, Tarbell also performed the moves at an athletic, advanced level--e.g., 20 total rollovers! That is more than I feel is necessary. Furthermore, Tarbell does not mirror-cue, and she rarely offers suggestions for modifications (although, as noted above, her background exercisers do modify at times--in fact, it sometimes looked like they were struggling to keep up).

Overall, I do think that Tarbell did a nice job with this routine, although it could have been made even better by mirrored cuing, clearer modifications, and a longer, more thorough cool-down stretch. This workout is definitely best suited to experienced exercisers who are already knowledgeable in the area of Pilates and who are looking for a further challenge.

Instructor Comments:
In general, I liked Laura and found her personable (although I did NOT like how she repeatedly said "welcome to Laura Tarbell Pilates" without actually introducing herself). However, she provided very little instruction or form cues, particularly for the Pilates portions of the workout.

Beth C (aka toaster)

Laura leads this 42 min workout with 2 background exercisers in a brick gym. You will need an exercise ball for this pilates core & plyo cardio workout.

After a warmup, Laura alternates core focused pilates exercises with athletic plyometrics. Exercises include fast moguls, bicycle, double leg extension, scissors, bridge, single leg jumps, side plank on the ball, ball pikes, V-ups, jump lunges, elevator planks with your feet on the ball, V-twists, plyo lunges, skater, split jumps, roll-ups, plank series, plyo squats, teaser, leg series lying over the ball, and a final stretch.

I rate this a high intermediate routine as some of the pilates exercises were a great core challenge and the fun athletic cardio will get your heart pumping. I am a huge fan of Laura's instruction style and appreciate her cuing, form pointers, and unique combination of exercises. This dvd has a place in everyones dvd library. I love core cardio workouts and this one is like nothing else I have come across, work that core and get your heart pumping! I received this dvd to review.

lindseylu