The Firm: Sculpt & Tone Pilates

This is a 30 minute stretch/sculpt workout. I really enjoyed it. Alison does a good job leading. The stretches felt nice and relaxing. The toning moves were a nice addition. The band was used in unique ways that were not cumbersome. The workout flowed well moving from stretching to lower body toning to upper body toning. There was also some ab toning. I used this on the last day of a rotation as a recovery workout and it worked very well for that purpose.

I've owned this DVD for awhile, but just realized I'd done it only once without writing a review. I liked this short Pilates-styled workout, and felt the band added additional resistance.

One thing: if you have never done Pilates before, I suggest starting with a workout such as Pilates for Dummies or even Kathy Smith's Pilates Core (from Project You) to learn about breathing and how to hold your core.

Since I'd done these workouts in the past, it was easy to transfer that knowledge to this one. The only flaw I saw in this workout was that there was not enough instruction in those particulars, but a beginner would not be at a loss with the exercises that were chosen.

I know a lot of advanced exercisers here complain that the FIRM is too easy, but I think part of the joy of the FIRM is the ability to add additional resistance as your fitness level increases. I bought the kit with the purple "heavy" band, but ended up using the green band that came with the Sculpt-ilates workout.

It was the same band Alison used in the workout, with Allie using the purple heavy resistance band and the other exerciser (I can't remember her name) using the pink light resistance band. It added a whole new level of tough to standard triceps kickbacks and the floor leg work.

I give the workout a solid A-, only because I wanted more pilates specific instruction, but it's still a great short workout when you're pressed for time or want a quick add on.