Customer Reviews

Combining Pilates & Yoga for Balance

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a great workout designed by Tom McCook, whose talents as a Pilates and Yoga teacher really show! By the end of the 45 minute flow practice, I felt like I got a super workout and at the same time felt physically and mentally restored.

I like the way the exercises are sequenced, beginning with warm-up stretches and Pilates movements, then leading into flowing Yoga poses. The Pilates exercises really help establish a good mind-body connection and get you into your core. So the Yoga poses feel safer on the back and joints. I find I can go a lot deeper into the Yoga postures without creating strain.

There's an instructional Basics section prior to the Flow portion of the video which explains proper body positioning, breathing, weight bearing prinicipals - these are a good prep for the Flow.

Overall, Tom McCook gives excellent instruction with a calming and pleasant voice. This video gets better each time I follow it!

I am your typical 40 something american male, a weekend warrior, attempting to recapture my youth. At the end of the day, I have more aches and pains to show for my missguided belief that I can actually hang with the youngsters. So I decided to take a new approach on a recommendation from an older friend who successfully completes marathons and triathalons. "Pilates, just do it. You will be able to train smarter with well stretched muscles". And the DVD he recommended is this DVD. Results are amazing. I have less post exercise pain, better endurance and I can actually touch my toes (I couldn't even do that in High School). This DVD is truly amazing for improving my quality of workout.

I have grown to rely on this great video. I get a full body workout and feel relaxed and centered afterwards. Tom McCook's voice is smooth and encouraging and he definitely knows what he is doing. I read somewhere that his studio was rated #1 in the entire Bay Area. I love this video and would definitely recommend it!

Hey guys, this DVD is really a great blend of the best of yoga and pilates. The beginning section gives you the basics, and explains why they are important. And the workout section takes you right thru a strong workout that flows perfectly from one body part to the next.

I teach yoga and find that this DVD is a perfect complement to a pure yoga practice. The pilates component gives you the core strength that enables you to do yoga poses and movement safely. I highly recommend it to my students, particularly at the intermediate level. So many videos & DVDs get flat after a few workouts because they don't get deep enough into the work. McCook's 40-minute workout has staying power - it really goes deep and is a practice that you won't grow out of.

This is a great balanced workout combining both pilates and yoga postures to extend & open the body while grounding & building your core. It keeps you constantly moving and provides well thought out voice instruction to lead you through the series. I also find it to be a great travel companion - very easy to do in any hotel room and a great way to help beat jetlag! I'm looking forward to the next video.

I used this video to help rebuild all the muscles needed for core stability after a low back injury. I tried a lot of methods and this video offers consistancy and lessons to carry through out my day which I think was the reason I have healed. I also used ball therapy but have given this to friends who also have injured or have weak low backs. Realizing that the core muscles keep the spine active and supported was one of the best lessons I have learned in understanding my body. Thanks Tom! Hey - the credits are pretty good too! Love to see a little humor, especially after a good work out! Keep em' coming!

A gentle workout, and the 45 min flies by! Tom McCook is a great instructor. I do this workout on my tired days and take the time to work on form. I definitely feel it the next day.

This DVD by Pilates/yoga instructor Tom McCook offers a Pilates mat workout which moves into a series of flowing yoga postures. The "for Balance" part of the title seems to refer to a balance between the two disciplines, as the practice does not focus on balance poses. The main menu is as follows: Introduction, 3 minutes (brief overview by Tom); Basics, 6 minutes (review of Pilates breathing and other principles); Flow Practice, 45 minutes. Tom teaches via voiceover with no music.

Tom begins the practice with Pilates. Starting in a standing position, he performs several warm-ups, including roll downs and side bends. He then moves into a lunge with chest stretch and extends the lunge to a partial split. Transitioning to a lying position, he moves the knees from side to side and performs toe touches before beginning a more traditional Pilates mat series. Exercises here include the hundred, roll ups, leg circles, the series of five (skipping the double straight leg stretch), spine stretch forward, saw, open leg rocker, flight, swan, one leg bow stretch, elbow plank/side elbow plank, child's pose, and shoulder stretch (variation of dolphin pose). He then performs down dog as a transition into the yoga segment.

The yoga portion of the practice begins with sun salutations: Tom leads 3 repetitions of sun sal A and two rounds of sun sal B, emphasizing smoothing out the breath the entire time. He then moves into a standing series consisting of triangle, warrior 2, and extended side stretch, alternating sides for each posture. He completes the standing work with a wide leg forward bend (adding a shoulder stretch) and prayer twist (shown on the DVD cover). Next, he transitions to seated for head to knee pose (starting with a bended knee to keep the back straight, which was helpful), attempting a brief arm balance before going to the other side. After this is a half spinal twist, with Tom showing progressively more challenging options. Moving to supine, he performs bridge, offering the option of repeating this easy backbend or trying upward bow. He then stretches out the lower body with thread the needle and a seated side bend before moving into savasana, where he offers total silence for about 3 minutes.

I clocked the total time for the practice at about 46.5 minutes, which was evenly split between the Pilates and yoga portions (ie, approximately 23 minutes each). Occasionally throughout the workout, insets appear at the top of the screen showing modifications of the current movement. During the Pilates segment, Tom transitions rather quickly between the exercises, and since he provides little instructional information, prior familiarity with Pilates is definitely needed. However, Tom does offer preps for some of the exericses--eg, a seated cross-leg twist before moving into saw and prepatory balance work before doing the full open leg rocker. The yoga section flows at a more measured pace, but again, Tom gives almost no cueing on form, so prior knowledge of basic yoga postures is essential.

Overall, this is a nice practice for advanced beginner to intermediate practitioners who enjoy both Pilates and yoga and are interested in combining the two into a single session.

This sequence is for those who are already intermediate/advanced in their practice of both yoga and pilates.

Don't get this if you are new to yoga - the author does not give sufficient instruction, and in fact his alignment is off in some of the poses. Also, I'd suggest doing your own warm up sequence before even starting the workout as the author starts up right away in some demanding stretches.

Also if you are experienced in yoga and pilates, you may be disappointed in the duration of the flow sequence - it was too short for a yogi to get much satisfaction in the workout.

First I whole heartedly agree with this post: Not for beginners, June 20, 2005 Reviewer: MM "yoga-fitness-gal". I would also like to add that the poses and transition between poses can be really quick and could cause injury (especially if you are not well warmed and stretched before starting the tape). Also, in the beginning he promises modified poses and there were very few modifications in the 40 minutes of tape (and there really needed to be).

Now, that said, I should qualify my comments by saying I have not been doing yoga for decades like some of these folks. I have taken a class on the weekend from the Y for a couple years (that is very gentle) and I do have a series of yoga tapes - one of which is a Rodney Yee tape (who is fairly strenuous). So I guess I am a beginner/intermediate.

Two final notes. There is no music on the tape. That may mean nothing to some, but I like a little mood music. Finally, the outtakes at the end will work your abs. Sometimes I watch it for a little laugh therapy!