Progressive Pilates for Weight Loss (3 out of 5 stars)
Koch Vision/ 40 minutes

A different type of Pilates workout, Progressive Pilates for Weight Loss intrigued us with it’s use of standing Pilates moves based on the reformer machine, instead of traditional mat-based exercises. That said, there was some disappointment to be had.
Liz Gillies isn’t an annoying instructor, but she does lose form in quite a few parts of the workout, causing confusion. Also, some parts of the workout seem too hard while others completely non-taxing.
The 40 minutes does pass quickly as the workout is split into three parts. The first is the warm-up, then the standing matwork, and last is the Ab workout. At the end of the workout, we weren’t really tired or had felt like we had completed a good workout, and we are not avid exercisers by any means.
While this might be a nice change if you’re a fan of Pilates and are getting sick of your matwork, this Pilates workout just isn’t challenging enough to be an effective weight-loss tool. Try The Bar Method or some Gaiam Pilates DVDs instead.

Brazilian Dance Workout (4 out of 5 stars)
Hip Brazil/ 60 minutes

This incredibly unique workout will have you shaking your bon-bon and sweating off the pounds in no time! Accompanied by a live Brazilian percussion band, Vanessa Isaac takes you through a warm up, full body dance workout and a cool down.
She teaches traditional Brazilian moves that make you feel sexy and powerful as you do them (no matter how uncoordinated you may be). Vanessa is sweet, energetic and extremely likeable. She is a Brazilian performer and leads dance classes. Therefore, she is not a fitness instructor and sometimes slips a little on making sure you have the right form.
The focus of this workout is dancing and having fun and the students that accompany Vanessa definitely look like they’re having fun. They also look like real people, not wafer-thin stick figures you expect to break in half if a slight breeze hits them.
In the beginning you may be a little frustrated as Vanessa does go through the moves quite quickly and doesn’t give you enough time to catch on perfectly. But by the third or fourth time you will have mastered them and will just focus on dancing, as opposed to getting all of the steps right.
The only pet peeves with this workout are that is does progress quite quickly,Vanessa sometimes forgets to show proper form, and it is quite long (that’s a personal observation since I like my workouts 45 minutes or less or I lose focus.)
Otherwise, Brazilian Dance Workout is a blast and a refreshing change from the monotony of aerobics! Clear some space and turn the sound up as the percussion band will have you shakin' what your momma gave you all over the house.

Cardio Pilates (3 out of 5 stars)
Gaiam/ 40 minutes

This workout is basically divided into two parts: a Pilates mat workout followed by a short cardio burst. The reason I gave this only three stars is because while the mat work is great, the cardio part is basically useless and actually quite annoying.
The instructor is Ana Caban, who has done a few Pilates workouts with Gaiam over the years and she is very likeable and straightforward, and not annoying like many other instructors. Her directions are clear and she always shows modifications for beginners. The first 30 minutes of this DVD are her Pilates moves, done at an intermediate level. It’s a good workout and a great example of an effective Pilates tape.
It is all completely ruined by the last bit which Caban claims is a cardio workout created by Joseph Pilates himself. But this is not cardio. This is Caban doing the same four moves over and over with a very fake smile plastered on her face. You will not break a sweat; you will not burn any more calories than you would walking from the couch to the fridge.
I did this workout for three weeks every other day and while my abs and thighs shaped up (and lengthened out!) thanks to the Pilates, the cardio did nothing for me and I actually began to skip over it to the cool down after a week.
If you want to try Pilates I recommend Caban’s Pilates Beginner Mat Workout DVD over this one as well as her Pilates Intermediate Mat Workout. They should take the cardio nonsense out and market this as another Pilates-based mat workout and it would do a lot better.

The Bar Method Body Box Set (5 out of 5 stars)
Natural Journeys/ 45 minutes each

Featuring two DVDs: Designer Sculpting and Fat Free, The Bar Method Body set gives you one heck of a workout. Based on yoga, pilates and ballet moves, these workouts involve small movements that promise big results.
The instructor is Burr Leonard, a woman in her 50’s who looks phenomenal. She could crack a walnut with her butt-cheeks. With that kind of motivation, you get very gung-ho about starting these workouts. The only equipment necessary is 3-5 pound weights, a strap (or a belt from a bathrobe) and a sturdy piece of furniture hip to waist height like the back of a chair.
Each workout is 45 minutes and the time flies. They each target the entire body and we couldn’t really see a difference between the two dvds besides the fact that they used different moves—perfect for not getting bored with a single routine.
Burr is a good instructor, accurately describing the form for each move and trying to keep you motivated. We didn’t find her annoying at all. Which is new for a fitness tape. Burr is joined by three other women, one of which does the moves with modifications for beginners. After one workout, we thought our thighs were going to fall off. The burning sensation feels so painful but so good. There is a lot of stretching incorporated into these workouts, helping to eliminate a sore feeling the next day. It doesn’t completely erase it however and if you haven’t worked out in a while, you’ll definitely feel it for a couple days. Power through the pain and do the workout every other day and the pain goes away as your body adjusts.
If you really want to lose weight you will need to do some cardio along with these tapes but for some long lean and incredibly toned limbs, The Bar Method Body is the way to go.

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