In a Box, With a Fox?

I saw the On the Ball: Pilates Workout for Beginners video and thought, “hey, maybe I will like Pilates better if it’s done on a ball.” Clearly, six months was ample time for me to forget about reviewing BalanceBall for Weight Loss in March (also an unfavorable review of a Pilates-on-an-exercise-ball workout DVD).

Once I tried out On the Ball: Pilates Workout for Beginners, though, all the frustration and unhappy memories came flooding back. It quickly became apparent that I’d made a miscalculation. I’m definitely not “on the ball” when it comes to Pilates.

The main workout on this DVD is about 32 minutes, consisting of traditional Pilates exercises, modified to use a large inflatable exercise ball. There is also a 9-minute bonus workout, which has 4 additional Pilates exercises done using the ball.

Some of the Pilates moves are modified to be done while sitting on the ball; some are modified to be done while holding the ball (with arms or legs); the remainder were done while draped over the ball.

Using the exercise ball adds an extra layer of difficulty, because you (or at least uncoordinated me) have to work so hard at not falling off the ball, in addition to doing whatever exercises you are supposed to be doing.

Instructor Lizbeth Garcia is the only exerciser in the video, and talks you through the moves as she performs them. Unfortunately, her instruction was a little tough for me to follow.

For starters, it seems like, despite the name, this is a more advanced Pilates workout, not for someone new to Pilates. Garcia would frequently just announce that we were adding such-and-such move, as though I was an experienced Pilates exerciser who would know what such-and-such move was. I didn’t feel like she did enough description of the moves themselves.

Without the requisite Pilates knowledge (or possibly even with it), a lot of the cuing was based on seeing what Garcia was doing. Unfortunately, like with most Pilates workouts, you spend a lot of time bent down and/or lying on the floor, where you can’t see the TV very well.

As an example, there was one move early on where she would start out sitting on the ball with her knees bent, bend her torso forward, and then when she came back up again, her legs would be straight.

I couldn’t ever figure out when or how we were supposed to straighten our legs … it was like they straightened by magic. I finally had to sit still (not doing the exercise myself) so I could see what she was doing. I’d rather do an  exercise that I can participate in while learning how to do it.

Also frustrating was the general lack of modifications offered. Like with BalanceBall for Weight Loss, there were some Pilates moves shown that were easier by virtue of involving the exercise ball. Most of the moves, though,  involved a level of fitness that I would not classify as beginner.

I don’t know what I was thinking. If doing Pilates is hard for me, and doing exercises on the ball is hard for me, what made me think combining the two would be a good idea? Two wrongs don’t make a right.

My dislike of Pilates is well-documented, but I’m not sure I’m really ready to officially call the exercise ball a “wrong” yet. There’s something fun about the ball, even though the balancing is tough. I want to find an exercise ball workout that is doable for the uncoordinated.

As for this video, I don’t think it’s for me. To paraphrase Dr. Seuss: I do not like Pilates, Sam-I-am. I do not like it in a box; I do not like it with a fox. I do not like it on a ball; I do not like it – not at all.