Aerobics exercise videos took off in the 1980s, followed by strength-training workouts, kickboxing, yoga and other trends.
In recent years, Pilates DVDs have become increasingly popular. The workouts are based on the teachings of the late Joseph Pilates, whose fitness method focuses attention on strengthening core posture muscles and deep breathing.
Pilates can include the use of special machines, but most DVD instructors teach exercises on a mat. How can you pick a good workout either on a DVD or in a class?
"If the workout is a good one, then all of the exercises are based on the fundamental principles of Pilates, which are centering, control, breathing, fluid movement, form, concentration," says Lara Hudson, star of The 10 Minute Solution: Pilates and several other DVDs. She is the owner of Mercury Fitness Pilates Center in San Francisco.
If you do the workouts about three times a week for an hour each time, your waistline will probably be trimmer because there's a lot of abdominal work, she says.
Pilates also focuses on the muscles around your joints -- especially hips and shoulders, where you work to refine smaller muscles in those areas, Hudson says. It balances the muscle system so that no one muscle group is stronger than the other. You prevent injury because there is nothing pulling adversely on the skeletal frame because of muscular imbalance, she says.
The workouts should help you do many activities with more energy and efficiency -- playing golf, running, cycling, walking or sitting at your desk, Hudson says.
Choose the right DVD
Pilates creates an immense amount of body awareness, which is beneficial whether you're sitting at your desk all day or you're a serious athlete, agrees Moira Merrithew, co-founder with her husband, Lindsay, of Stott Pilates, a company based in Toronto that offers Pilates equipment, education and more than 120 DVDs, including Stott Pilates Level 2 Firm and Fit.
It's important to pick a DVD or class at the right level, she says. "You need to learn the basic Pilates principles before moving along to the more advanced exercises in order to get the most out of each exercise."
Some people think you have to have a lot of flexibility to do Pilates, but that's not really true, Merrithew says. You don't have to be overly flexible, but it's important that you pick a DVD that offers modifications for your body type, she says. "Pilates increases your flexibility because there is equal emphasis on strength and flexibility. By rebalancing the muscles around the joints, you increase your range of motion."
Hudson adds: It's exactly what people who are tighter should be doing because it will help to elongate their muscles.
Doing movements incorporating Pilates principles will give you a supple, youthful spine and long, lean muscles, says Fred DeVito. He and his wife, Elisabeth Halfpapp, are co-creators of Exhale: Core Fusion DVDs (Body Sculpt, Pilates Plus, Thighs & Glutes). and co-founders of New York's Exhale Spa.
With these kinds of workouts, "positioning and alignment are the cornerstones for achieving results," he says. "Movement without form could lead to muscle imbalance and injury."
Pay attention to details
The biggest mistake would be to approach these workouts without being patient, consistent and present, DeVito says. "Subtle changes in position and alignment will completely alter the level of challenge and results."
People can "throw away their movements," Hudson says. "There are a thousand ways to do one single movement, and we're looking for the best way to make the muscles and bones work harmoniously. If you don't pay attention to the details, you don't feel the work as deeply and may not get the most benefit from the exercises."
Merrithew agrees: "If you are doing an exercise without activating the correct muscles, you could injure yourself or end up not getting the results you want -- a great toned body."
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