A.M. and P.M. Pilates Mat Workouts (Gaiam) (2002)

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General		Extras
Category	Pilates	Main Menu Audio & Animation Featurette-Bonus Workout: Pilates Energy Boost 1 Biographies-Cast-Jillian Hessel and Ana Caban (Instructors) Interviews-Cast-Jillian Hessel and Ana Caban (Instructors) Trailer-About Gaiam
Rating
Year Of Production	2002
Running Time	56:50 (Case: 85)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Ted Landon
Studio Distributor	Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	Jillian Hessel Ana Caban
Case	?
RPI	$24.95	Music	Benjamin Davis

    Pilates was created by Joseph Pilates, who emigrated to the United States in the early 20th century and set up the Pilates Studio in 1926 for physical exercise, training and rejuvenation. His fusion of Eastern meditative concepts and the Western requirement for movement and variety has stood the test of time and Pilates is one of the most successful forms of physical exercise throughout the world. As is the philosophy of a discipline like Tai Chi, it's the mind as well as the body that is integral to this physical training regimen.

    This programme provides two separate exercise programmes for the person on the go. These are the A.M. Pilates Mat Workout and the P.M. Pilates Mat Workout.

    A.M. Pilates Mat Workout with Jillian Hessel  -   27:39
 
    This programme has been created to stimulate and energize the subject for the day ahead. As the first thing you don't want to do in the morning is to fly headlong into an impossible range of exercises full flight, this workout is set to get you going and prepare you for the day ahead. Even though this series is called Mat Workout, this section requires a couple of extra props to aid in the programme. In addition to the mat, you'll need a Body Band (a stretch band approximately 2 meters long that you can hold at both ends and hook your foot into), a chair and a pillow. If you don't have these props (especially the Body Band), you'll have to improvise or switch to an alternative exercise for that period of the workout. This workout is divided into three separate sections: Breathing (Chair work), Mat Work and Centring (Standing). The programme starts in a sitting position, then to the mat and in the end goes to the standing position. This workout is far from high impact and is more to tone the mind and body for the day's activities.

    P.M. Pilates Mat Workout with Ana Caban  -   29:11

    This is a much more intensive workout that has been created to finish the day with a good workout without overstimulation. My exercise programme evaluation team member (aka my wife) found this to be a much more challenging workout and the expression 'Yeah, right' with a tone of sarcastic resignation was to be heard several times during this programme. The secret here lies in doing the programme to the best of your ability and as time progresses, you will most probably find the exercises becoming more and more easy. This programme is divided into three separate sections: Warm up, Mat Work and Calm and Relax. This set doesn't require any separate props other than the mat.

    For this category of programming, this has to be one of the most spectacularly shot exercise videos ever produced. Instead of being filmed on a white soundstage somewhere, Jillian Hessel and Ana Caban are situated on elevated polished wood platforms on the rocky outcropping of a secluded beach, a spectacular backdrop and a creative element that adds to the calmative effect of this video.

    I'm not one for this type of physical regimen, but there is very much a market for this sort of thing, and you could do far worse than this programme. If you find your day just doesn't have enough hours for a decent workout, then perhaps this DVD could be a place to start.

Video

    This disc presents the material in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, full frame, which is its intended aspect ratio.

    I found the image during all the programmes to be fairly sharp and clear, with only occasional video transfer nasties marring the image provided. Almost all of this programme is shown in well-lit conditions, and as such, shadow detail isn't really a huge issue, but it is adequate for the programme. I didn't have any problems with low level noise.

    Colour's use in this programme is very natural and does not lend to exaggeration. I found its committal to disc to be quite good.

    This disc features a transfer that runs at a bitrate of about 6.25 Mb/s. This is more than enough to provide a decent level of image quality that doesn't feature pixelization and macroblocking. I did see a bit of aliasing during the programme, but this wasn't as distracting as it would have been on a feature film and didn't distract too much. Edge enhancement was looking for a workout, and he found one here. He takes part in all the exercise programmes on this disc. He also pays a visit with us to the extras sections. He isn't as distracting to your workout and you'd expect, though. This programme was shot on video and there are therefore no film artefacts seen at any stage.

    There are no subtitles available.

    This disc is formatted as a single layer, and as such there is no layer change.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There is only one soundtrack option here, that being an English Dolby Digital 2.0 mix running at 224 Kb/s.

    Dialogue quality here is very good with the spoken word very understandable throughout the programme. I had no issues with audio sync.

    Music for this programme comes from Benjamin Davis. Benjamin's music is very calming and soothing and is completely in keeping with the tone of the programme. It features light string and percussive instruments.

    This soundtrack suits the material well, but we don't have any audio acrobatics here and a basic 2.0 soundtrack is all that's on offer. Your AV receiver will be able to derive some atmospheric sounds, but that's about all. My subwoofer was not troubled here.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

• A.M. Pilates
• P.M. Pilates
• Special Features

    Selecting the Special Features icon offers up the following options:

• Bonus Workout - Pilates Energy Boost 1
• Instructor Biographies - Jillian Hessel and Ana Caban
• Instructor Interviews  -  Jillian Hessel and Ana Caban

    Ana Caban takes us through a very simple and brief workout that would suit a person with even less time on their hands. My exercise programme evaluation team member found this to be a good little workout that sits well between the ease of the A.M. programme and the P.M. one. At just 12 minutes, this is one for those on the go.

Instructor Biographies

• Jillian Hessel - One Page
• Ana Caban   -  Two Pages

    After a back injury during her career in dance, Jillian turned to Pilates to rebuild her fitness and increase the strength of her damaged back. So impressed was she with the Pilates programme that she became an instructor full time and continues as such, even after the recent birth of a child!

Instructor Interviews - Ana Caban   -   6:51

    Ana describes how she uses Pilates to deal with life's hectic day-to-day challenges. Similar to Jillian, Ana turned to Pilates after an injury and found herself such a convert to the Pilates philosophy that she has also become a full time instructor in the discipline.

     I have found this disc for sale on the Gaiam website and for all intents and purposes it looks to be exactly the same as we have here, save the PAL transfer for ours. This would have to be called a draw

     Tired of the same ol' video exercise crap that is everywhere? This just might be a good place to start with a very engaging and effective workout programme that would suit a person that had little exercise in their daily life and little time on their hands.

     The video is adequate for a programme of this type.

     The audio is adequate.

     There are a couple of extras, including a bonus workout if two aren't enough for you.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall