Customer Reviews

Egoscue: Pain Free Workout Series Vol. 1 and 2

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I only wish I started this program earlier. I spent almost a year doing PT, visiting orthopedic surgeons/sport medicine specialists, and going through massages, acupuncture, and chiropractors. It was all palliative. This is eliminating my shoulder and hip pain, addressing the etiology. I am a medical professional with very physically demanding, ergonomically- stressful job. I was also exercising and doing yoga a lot.
Egoscue is a genius.

While the egoscue program is a good one this DVD is NOT for everyone and definitly should NOT be used until an individual has achieved proper realignmnet. I give this DVD a 2 star because it implies you can achieve proper alignment using the exercises on this DVD when in fact you can not. Most of the exercises in the DVD are for building strength and flexibility once you have returned to proper alignment through the use of the exercises in the book or with a certified egoscue instructor. The exercises on the DVD are NOT the same as the ones in the book and can actually cause more pain if you are still out of alignment and use them as was the case with me. Sadly there is nothing in the editorial review or on the DVD package that tells you this.
This information regarding the DVD exercises was told to me by Michael Bellofatto from Egoscue.
Get the book FIRST and do those exercises first, that's where you need to start before spending money on this DVD!
The best would be if Egoscue would make a DVD of the exercises in the book so we all could learn how to do them correctly and help ourselves, for those of us who can't afford or don't have access to and Egoscue clinic or instructor. Plus exercising from a book is just darn awkward!

This DVD consists of a Beginner Level and an Advanced Level.

The Beginner level I can attest to as being wonderful in that right from the first session, the positions you learn and the exercises you practice are simple and easy yet they provide, each time, surprisingly more ease of pain and better postural alignment than you might ever hope to expect from any single session or effort. The pacing is calm and harmonious -- at least for the first half of the session, and it feels much like a one-on-one Pilates class or a Yoga session for beginners.

The Advanced Level I merely previewed. It is a much more intense level of exercise requiring a lot of strength and stamina, particularly in the abs, moreso than any Beginner level participant can expect to exhibit.

I got a lot of ease of pain and better postural alignment with the Beginner level, a level of ease that lasted for hours and sometimes the whole day. The results I achieved were astonishing, surprising, and wonderful.

The production values for this DVD are, sadly, weak and irritating, however.

In the Beginner level, two people help you with the program to become pain-free. One is a woman performing the exercises and the other is a male instructor explaining the exercises. About half-way through the session, the male instructor begins to talk more volubly than at the beginning and he begins to talk in more of a militaristic tone of voice than he did at the beginning. Increasingly, the voice becomes unadulteratedly louder and more robotic. The calming and harmonious experience one first experiences with this DVD and with this pair of people begins to dissipate rapidly. The male voice distracts and annoys. His voice is such that you cannot bear listening to him upon further playbacks of the session. This is a production problem that interferes with one's motivation to repeat the session for the next day.

The DVD offers you the choice to turn the sound off -- wonder why!? --- and listen to programmed music instead. However, the programed musical offering is but a single folk song that repeats and repeats throughout the entire session. It is also a piece of music that is set up to cue you when the next exercise is coming up. I found the musical timer inadequate. I found it better to memorize the entire repertoire of exercises for the Beginner level and turn the sound off completely.

In the Advanced level, there is only one person to help you with the exercises, which is actually quite fine and really a relief after partaking of what's (irritatingly) possible with two people helping you at the Beginner level. This one person is the same woman from the Beginner program, acting now as both performer and instructor. Her body is slender and lithe, athletic and natural, and her speaking voice is clear and natural as well. Her cues are well accented, but she moves quite fast. It is not a calming, harmonious experience she is delivering here; she is offering you a work-out.

Shamefully, there is no Intermediate level in this DVD. The difference between the Beginner level and the Advanced level is so stark and dramatic, there is no way a Beginner can, even after months of practice, transition easily to the Advanced level. You're completely on your own as to how to manage this trick. The Advanced level requires such strength and demands such intensity, it also can't be used by anyone who truly is in severe pain, no matter how fit he or she is. It can only be used by the fit and the already well individual who wants to improve his or her postural alignment.

I found that the DVD does do what it says it will do: make you pain-free. However, the means this particular DVD uses can be taxing and annoying for the viewer.

My advice is to write down all the exercises and memorize them, put your own music on your iPod or CD player, and perform the program yourself without the DVD.

I am already a fan of the Egoscue Method and their products and services and I found this product to be, by far, very instructional and beneficial. I found the attention given on how to do the exercises correctly to be the key to benefiting from these exercises. Pain that had resided in my lower back for years, is suddenly gone. The stretches induced by the exercises are WONDERFUL. And this review is just about disk 1! I haven't gotten to disk 2 yet. I don't know if this is for everyone, but I do know that it's for me and I expect to enjoy these disks for many years to come.

I have the DVD set and the book. I am 62, a retired Marine, and very fit. That means I can run over 3 miles, sprint, play soccer with 22 year olds, do lots of pull-ups, sit-ups, push-ups, etc. But because of my desk bound job, I think, I have developed a forward leaning slouching posture. I have noticed a difference within a week of using this series of beginning exercises. I am more aware of standing and sitting straight and my major postural muscles are putting me in a better position. The workout takes 45 minutes which is time consuming since I also want to do fitness training. The exercises are physically easy for me, so after I continue for 30 days, I will step up to the workout DVD, so I can get some fitness as well as posture/flexibility training. I believe that this kind of exercise would have been very beneficial much earlier in my life. Proper flexibility and attention to some completely ignored muscles should be part of everyone's exercise regimen along with strength and cardiovascular work. I am confident that nearly anybody can do these exercises. I plan to show them to my 86 year old dad, also a retired Marine, whose bending posture takes his head closer to the ground every year. I found the quality of the production to be more than adequate. Based on one of the reviews here, I was prepared for something substandard. I didn't see it that way. It is in color, with clear voice over background music. The presentation is informative with explanations to support demonstration of the exercises. Both presenters are pleasant to watch and listen to. The program is a single take without edits because they really aren't necessary. The dialogue is spontaneous rather than scripted. Highly recommended.

Egoscue's "Pain Free Workout Series, Vol. 1 and 2 (well, Vol. 1 at least) complements nicely the exercises found in his books "Pain Free" and "The Egoscue Method of Health Through Motion". As one reviewer has already pointed out, you practically have to be in possession of super-human powers to successfully navigate the second disc. (After two grueling, profanity-laden attempts, I've more or less shelved it--and I'm in decent physical condition--I think.) Be that as it may, there's plenty to keep the highly motivated user busy on the beginner disc, and it doesn't take long to begin seeing and feeling the benefits. Granted, some may find the lengthy explanations of each exercise overwhelming, as Mr. Exercise Physiologist fires off the names of muscle after muscle, at times grappling with his tortured diction. And the ultra-fit, middle-aged exercise model of Continental origin does pose some unnecessary (i.e., stupid) questions. Nevertheless, I, for one, am simply glad to have a knowledgeable human being guiding me through these E-cises, pointing out subtleties that I've sometimes missed in the books.

Let me begin by saying that I have a lot of workout books and DVD's on my shelf that promised big and didn't work out... The first time I tried this exercise routine, I worked through both the beginners and advanced cd's one after the other. Sounds pretty standard huh! However, what isn't standard is the fact that there is something about this routine that allowed me to do certain poses and moves that I haven't been able to do for many, many years. I have overstretched ligaments throughout my body and normally could not do the majority of exercises in the advanced DVD (such as putting weight on my wrist in any way - even the Cats and Dogs used to be too hard on my wrist - or doing deep knee bends etc.); yet, I am able to do these exercises within the sequence. One presumes the reason is becasue of the well thought out routine that works out and stretches the right muscles in the right order without over taxing the body. I highly recommend this DVD to young and 'old' alike. You'll all love the way you feel a foot taller after the workout.

I purchased this after spending 16 months doing specific egoscue ecises developed for me by them for debilitating back and neck pain I had for over 10 years. Patience with Egoscue is a virtue. Now that I am finally feeling great and can do so many sports I could not before, this video series allows me to maintain my good posture. You feel so grounded and srong when you complete this workout. It is really quite easy,but offers you the benefits of a really good workout.

After just the first time using the beginner video my left thumb could be moved without excruciating pain and I could open and close my hands easier and gained back a bunch of hand strength! To say that I am pleased is an understatement!
I already use workout videos 3 times a week, so exercising it not a foreign idea to me. Now, I still do the regular workouts, but have added the pain free stretches 2-4 times a week. It is just amazing to me how it is adding strength and flexibility and my posture is improving too!
I find this workout to be very helpful and relaxing. I feel energized and more flexible. Warning: you must DO the workout to get the results. Does not work by osmosis. I say this because I brag about it to everyone who will listen. Very few are willing to get off their butts and take action, even with the hope of getting out of pain. Go figure.
I recommend the book Pain Free by Pete Egoscue to go with the videos, as it gives more details and more exercises for targeting your pain. Good luck, and get moving!

I've read Pete Egoscues book Pain Free but I find it easier to use the video to do the exercises. I highly recommend both the book and the video. These exercises are great for anyone who has been inactive for any reason and wants a practical, real way to alleviate pain and get back to being healthy. I've found these exercises to help with chronic pain that I have been having for years. The chronic pain comes from a tailbone injury that I received as a teen that a doctor then tried to do an adjustment on my spine and damaged a nerve. I've found if very difficult to do any kind of exercise because of the burning pain but with this method that pain is greatly reduced.