After years of a serious fear of Pilates, which I believe has the scientific name of Pilatesagoria, I finally succuumbed to the temptation to try out the exercises. Before attempting my first Pilates workout, I read a little about the benefits of Pilates. According to this website hyping Pilates, Pilates was developed to increase flexibility at the core of the body which can in turn benefit the core of the body or the back or the spine.

Because I am a newbie to Pilates, I opted to try out the Beginning Pilates Mat Workout dvd instead of joining an organized class in order to save myself money and embarrassment.

I was a little disappointed with the dvd. There were two women demonstrating the exercises- one in the correct posture and one in a modified pose for those who are less flexible. The dvd included a brief introduction to Pilates, a short Pilates work out, and a twelve-minute energy boost.

I found Pilates like a cross between stretching and yoga with some compromising positions in between. After finishing both the workout and the twelve-minute energy boost, I felt more relaxed than I had been previously. However, I felt as if the dvd didn't have enough exercises on it to warrant the $10+ that I paid for it.

As far as the fitness level required for the "Beginning Pilates Mat Workout" is concerned, I think the dvd would be appropriate for people who are truly new to exercise, stretching, or other exercises or who haven't exercised in quite a while. I didn't break a sweat during either of the workouts, which I finished consecutively. That said, my muscles felt as if they had released some tension and I was more relaxed than I had been before I tried out the DVD and I am eager to try out more advanced Pilates dvds.

The beginning Pilates dvd serves as an introduction to the most basic Pilates moves, so no Pilates resistance equipment is required to complete the exercises on the video. For those who are more interested in a challenging at-home Pilates workout, an investment into a wide array of Pilates equipment might just be required. Of those, the most expensive piece of equipment required is the Balanced Body Studio Reformer.  While the Pilates website claims that their reformers are easy to use and set up, I am more than a little skeptical solely based on the picture.

Again, as a newbie to the world of Pilates, any advice that you have to offer on at-home dvds, studio-recommendations, or anything else Pilates or fitness-related in general would be greatly appreciated.