The Gaiam Pilates Intermediate Mat Workout DVD is an instructional video that takes you through an intermediate Pilates mat routine that will prepare you for the advanced level. Gaiam is a company that provides health products, including exercise videos. Its products focus on personal development and healthy living.
Intermediate DVD
The Gaiam Pilates Intermediate Mat Workout is intended for those who have mastered the beginners DVD called Easy Pilates. It expands on previously learned information and increases the intensity of the exercises from a beginner to an intermediate level. Key Pilates elements of breath, concentration, centering, control, fluidity and precision are the guiding principles for this 60-minute video.
Beginners
The Gaiam Pilates Intermediate Mat Workout is sold as a set with Easy Pilates or you can buy the intermediate DVD separately. This step-by-step routine teaches you how to master the fundamentals of Pilates at your own pace. Easy Pilates teaches you the ideal positioning for each movement in detail. The beginner's video is 25 minutes long.
Ana Caban
Instructor Ana Caban guides you through the beginner and intermediate levels of the Gaiam Pilates mat workout series. Aside from her career as a bilingual Pilates instructor, this mother of one son is a certified wellness coach as well as a radio and TV personality.
Pilates
Joseph H. Pilates is the founder of Pilates. He developed a series of exercises based on various fitness and health modalities including martial arts and yoga. Practitioners do Pilates on a mat or with special fitness equipment, including the Reformer and the Cadillac.
Effect of Pilates
A mat Pilates workout can transform your body in eight weeks, according to a study conducted by the Wellness Center at the University of Miami and published in the September 2009 issue of the journal Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport. Nine novice practitioners attended a one-hour mat Pilates class three times a week for eight weeks. Compared to a control group who did not change their normal routine, the Pilates practitioners on average lost 1.2 percent of their body fat, could perform 14 more abdominal curl-ups and seven more back extensions than before taking the classes. The participants also lost about 1 inch at the waist and significantly improved body composition, flexibility and muscular endurance.
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