Beginner Betsey

I’m sure by now everyone’s aware of my feelings about Pilates. What could possibly make despicable Pilates more appealing and accessible for me? The answer turns out to be all in the name.

This week I tried out Crunch’s Pick Your Spot Pilates, which I felt had a lot of potential. I’ve been pleased with Crunch fitness DVDs in the past, and the instructor is Ellen Barrett, one of my favorites.

Even better is that the workout is broken into 10-minute segments. It may be despicable Pilates, but at least it’s only ten minutes of despicable Pilates at a time.

But what really sold me on the workout was something I didn’t even know about until I popped in the DVD … and Ellen Barrett introduced Betsey, who would be showing the beginner modifications during the workout. She even spells Betsey the same way as me; I checked the credits.

But this Pilates workout is not just great for people named Betsey; it’s got a lot of other features that make it more accessible to Pilates newbies and the super uncoordinated. Of course, it’s best for super uncoordinated Pilates newbies named Betsey – lucky me!

Barrett starts out with a short introduction to some Pilates concepts; something that most Pilates instructors don’t bother to do. It was nice to hear how the breathing was supposed to work; what powerhouse meant (turns out to just be your core); and how to imprint (this is basically just a fancy way to engage your core muscles).

The main workout has three 10-minute segments, each one targeting a different area of the anatomy: belly, butt, and thighs. You can play them back to back or just select one segment. Each segment has a tiny bit of stretching at the end, so they are more or less standalone segments.

As she did in the intro, Barrett continues to explain Pilates concepts and provides detailed instruction throughout these three segments. This is definitely a DVD for those new to Pilates, which is a refreshing change. So many Pilates workouts feel like an exclusive club to which I don’t belong. Barrett goes the extra mile to make everyone feel welcome and included.

One of the best parts about this DVD is the beginner modifications, and not just because they’re demonstrated by a Betsey.

Many Pilates workouts don’t show modifications at all, or they show a few, but assume that even the beginners have an unrealistic baseline level of flexibility and core strength. Again, I end up feeling like I don’t meet the requirements for an exclusive club.

Here, the modifications to the moves (and even many of the unmodified moves that were included in the workout) were easier to do for beginners. There was only one move that I totally gave up on doing (even the modified version), and it was in the 10-minute bonus workout Barrett calls the “Total Body Challenge”.

If there’s only one move I can’t do in 40 minutes of Pilates, that’s a pretty good testament to the accessibility of the workout. That having been said … I don’t think I’ll be doing the bonus workout again any time soon.

The main workout is a winner though. The only real issue I had with this DVD is that for some of the moves, Barrett instructs beginners to watch Betsey, but then the camera doesn’t pan to Betsey. So, it sometimes takes a while before viewers can see what Betsey’s doing so they can modify the moves too.

Overall, this is an excellent Pilates workout choice for Pilates beginners. I’m sure Betseys and non-Betseys alike will agree that Pick Your Spot Pilates is accessible to all.