Customer Reviews

Liz Gillies Core Fitness - Progressive Pilates for Weight Loss

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

 

 

Once again, Liz Gillies draws on her extensive dance and Pilates background to deliver an effective, unique workout.

The first section of the DVD is supposed to be based on Physical Mind's new Standing Pilates syllabus. While it is included in the middle, it's more of a cool-down/break from the meat of the workout, which is more ballet-based.

The second segment is the matwork. This is different from most of the other Pilates offerings out there, and on its own is worth the purchase price. This section is based on about ten or twelve traditional reformer exercises (as opposed to the traditional matwork). Included are: Footwork, Coordination, Rowing, Tree, Elephant (think Downward Dog with a rounded back), Side Plank and Twist, Leg Circles (different from the mat version), Pulling the Strap, and a few others I'm forgetting. I was skeptical about this keeping my heartrate up after the standing section, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I still felt like I was "working" at this point.

The Abs section is very similar to the Abs section on her Target Tone DVD, with an emphasis on the Pilates Abdominal Series. While some of her modifications look more like crunches than Pilates, she does instruct that the emphasis should be pulling up rather than pushing down- so think navel up, then in. If you're familiar with traditional Pilates matwork, this section may not be too challenging, but it might be a nice break from your usual routine.

I wouldn't recommend this as the sole workout to help you lose weight, but it is an interesting and different way to work Pilates into your workout rotation.

I have been doing Pilates tapes of all kinds for years now and my body has been staying the same in the middle . I just realized with this tape making such a difference .I was getting too used to the same routine, even with props.
liz Gillies routines have great basic ballet style standing moves first to warm up and raise heart rate once you get used to it ..Youre still using the same pilates technique principals used in the mat.interetsing perspective!!.
This workout can be challenging to your balance at first,and liz could have maybe made clear modifications for that with chair etc.. but you like how it feels more with practice..Ive been doing this tape 3 times a week for 3 weeks now ..I notice such a difference in my thigh definition and abs! I feel that my core is strongerand flattening now for doing mat work. I break a sweat and now heart rate gets up, and my body keeps slimming down !
you definetely need to have focus and concentration with this tape which pilates is known for, I also learned some amazing new insights into my postural form from Liz ..She delivers new and important cues to really get it, as she puts it , an inside scoop! thanx liz , This is one of the few tapes I will repeat over and over

I agree with the other reviewer who gave this a single star--chaotic is the best way to describe the workouts here. The instructor spends a lot of time talking in between exercises, but what she has to say provides no help with the execution of the exercises. It also interrupts the flow of the workout in a very irritating way. The one time I did the workouts, all I kept thinking was, "get on with it, woman!!" The faces of the other people in the video seem to say it all -- they don't look to be enjoying themselves in the least.
I would consider myself to be an advanced pilates practitioner, but I don't think this has anything to do with my judgment of this dvd: I fear it would turn off any beginner from pilates!

Liz Gillies has great body awareness on what feels right & what move would balance out the body next. She has a past scholarship in dance school, ballet as a child, etc. She gives great cues for proper body posture, cues YOUR left/right, good timing in giving them & great sunny personality like a good friend w/o being fake or perky while doing it.
This is set on the usual professional stage that is simple & mostly wood & lights. There are about 5 backup women all slim/young, one shows the modifications. What I didn't like was the music which was cheap & repeated.
The first part is the longest about 20 min which is the warm up with good dancer's warm-up stretches, step touches, ballet, modified lunges, some plies/ballet, some balancing on 1 foot, kicks, standing version of pilates mat work, etc. It was different, original, it flowed, which I liked, but it felt way too easy. I didn't feel any increased heart rate & nowhere near sweating. The whole thing was easier then other dvd's short warm up stretches.
Next is the mat work for toning with modified (easier) versions of the original pilates. Almost none are done the original way, such as knees are bent instead of straight, etc. Mermaid, teaser, hundred, swimming, crunches, etc. Good ab, back work with some yoga toning poses such as downward dog, plank (for arms), boat, child's, etc. thrown in here & there.
The cool down is shortest with some butterfly, etc.

None of the women looked like they were working up a sweat even considering they work with very bright, hot blazing lights, or the bad music, I kept FFWing because it was too easy, then more. I tried it again in Sept '06 VERY late at night & I did the whole thing, I did everything at a harder version or held it longer to keep from getting bored. I did feel my abs getting tired, but I held a lot of ab work w/o any breaks when they took breaks or did harder leg moves.
I do LOVE her style, she has a great personality, I'd love to see more from her, but more challenging & faster dance moves or ballet. I took off two stars for the slow pace, too easy cardio/balance, and somewhat too slow paced, too modified pilates.
I suggest this only for those who just starting to workout, or for a light day for those who work out regularly.

She has one of her other Progressive Pilates titles on collagevideo com you can see a preview of.

I really liked this DVD, for the most part. The first half is a cardio workout with lots of dance moves, and the second half is Pilates Mat work. Then there is a 10 minute Abs bonus workout. It is fast-paced and she has a lot of energy. I found her very annoying. She is a little too excited about Pilates.

Her friends around her look really bored, and the little modifying girl thinks she is hot stuff. She makes this face the entire time like she thinks she is really great.I found that the modified versions were a little harder at times, but that could just be me.

This is great for a beginner, with a few little challenging moments. Overall, not bad...but not great.

I had been working out to the pilates for dummies tape for about 4 months and am in search for another pilates routine. This workout was too fast-paced for me. I had read other reviews and disagree with those who say that this is great for beginners. I couldn't keep up, and even some of the modifications were not easy. It might be good for an intermediate exerciser new to pilates or for someone who has a dance background. It's not designed for an out-of-shape beginner. Also, one of the reasons why I want to use pilates is because I have a bad knee and the dummies tape did a really good job of helping it feel better. Some of the exercises in the standing poses did not feel good on that joint.

Edit: I changed my rating, because I looked on here to research it before getting the workout and can't find that anything that officially advertised that beginners can use this DVD. There is no product description and the only information to be found is in the reviews left by customers. I would recommend this more towards those who have an intermediate level of fitness or perhaps even an "intermediate" beginner. The instructor does not explain pilates basics so I wouldn't recommend it to someone who had never done it before. It is assumed that the viewer already knows the basic principals. I did not mind the instructors personality style although I agree she could've done better on the cuing a few times. It is more aerobic than traditional pilates.

I THOUGHT THIS WAS AN EXCELLENT DVD - I WAS NOT VERY MUCH INTO PLATES UNITL MY FRIENDS BOUGHT THIS DVD ROUND AND BEGGED ME TO TRY IT, WITH HAVING A BAD BACK ASWELL I KNEW I NEEDED SOMETHING. AFTER DOING THE WORKOUT 10 TIMES, I COULDNOT BELIEVE THE SHAPE I WAS GETTING INTO, I COMPLETELY BUILT MUSCLES IN PLACES I NEVER EXPECTED, AND IT REALLY STRENGTHENED MY BACK.
I WOULD TOTALLY RECOMMEND THIS DVD TO ANYONE WHO THINKS THERE IS NO HOPE. I have passed the dvd around to all my friends now and once a week we get together and do a class and we have so much fun whilst learning new techniques at the same time.

I was using tapes that moved too slowly, and that I only followed a couple of times before bordom set in. Liz is amazing at progressively building on the routine which keeps you coming back for more. The more times I did it the more I got out of it!
Thanks Liz :)

Liz Gillies has created quite a few Pilates workouts and this one is the most difficult one I've tried in her series. The workout begins with a standing sequence that is based on ballet. You are constantly moving with interesting balance challenges. If you are used to doing Pilates mostly on a mat then this will present quite a few new exercises. I especially enjoyed the "Windmill" and the creative "Side Lunges." You really do feel like a dancer during the first segment.

The workout then moves to the mat where you will experience a fast paced routine complete with exercises for the abs, back and shoulders. The leg circles are more difficult as you do them with both legs at the same time. You may recognize Bridge, the Teaser, Boat Pose, Swimming, Elephant (Downward Dog) and Mermaid.

A Cool Down follows with active stretching. If you want to end up on the floor panting then you can go on to the Bonus Ab Workout. Here you will experience the Pilates Crunch, Roll Up, Double Leg Stretch, Scissors, Straight Leg Lift and Criss Cross.

I can't imagine anyone thinking this is easy. If you follow each exercise and keep up with the pace you are guaranteed to feel the burn. For years I've been doing Pilates and this is one of the most difficult workouts I've tried.

~The Rebecca Review

(disclaimer: I am NOT big, I am actually quite trim but I'd like to keep it that way and therefore I use home workout tapes in between gym sessions.)

After you get through a solid 12 minutes of spam, clips, and advertising, you are finally presented with a sloppily thrown together, uncoordinated poor excuse for Pilates. Beginners (which I am not) would be lost altogether as the instructor doesn't demonstrate her steps. The mat work is marginally better but not enough for me to ever touch it again. Therefore, this tape and the other ones I also bought from this series in the same purchase, are going in the "Goodwill" bag.