Denise Austin: Shrink Your Fat Zones Pilates

I have been doing this workout for about a month and a half and I absolutely love it!When I read reviews for things like this, I like to know what kind of results people got, but before I get into that, let me explain how I have been doing the workouts.I started out doing a modified version of the 21 day challenge that is on the disc. There are three exercises including one for abs, one for upper body, and one for lower body (all 15 mins each). The first week I did the ab workout everyday and then alternated between lower and upper body. The second week I did upper body everyday and alternated abs and lower body. And the third week I did lower body everyday and alternated abs and upper body. I liked her workouts so much I got the sculpt and burn body blitz, so for every week after the first three, I have been alternating between this DVD and body blitz every other day.I've maybe lost 2-3 lbs in that time, but don't let that discourage you. I know people are dead set on losing weight as fast as they can, but seriously be patient. I am overweight, plain and simple. I could probably stand to lose about 25lbs. However, I'm not interested in losing weight as much as inches because to me, weight is just a number. Since I started, I have lost about 10 inches overall (from my stomach, thighs, arms, and butt), lost almost 2% body fat, and gained a LOT of muscle. I haven't changed anything about my diet at all, but I don't really eat unhealthily in the first place.I do have to say, Denise is a little cheesy. Also I find that some of the things that she says just don't really make any sense, so I like that you can do the workouts without hearing her talk and just have music playing instead.I also find that she likes to say that you have x amount of a rep left and then she will do twice as many plus.When I noticed that, I started counting how many reps of certain exercises she does on one side to compare it with how many she does on the other and they don't always match up. So make sure you count to yourself to make sure you are working both sides of your body equally!Like everyone else said, you do need a small towel and light hand weights to do these exercises, but thankfully I already had those things before I started.Overall, I would recommend.**UPDATE**I forgot to say, I noticed a few of the reviewers saying the format of this DVD is choppy, but it definitely is not. There are two menus you can go to on the main menu for the workouts. One is the plain old workouts menu in which you can individually choose what workout you want to do. OR, and I am thinking this is the part they missed, you can go to custom workout and select up to three workouts you want to do and they will play continuously.

I bought this DVD because I wanted a good workout for my butt and thighs, particularly. I love the layout on this DVD - from the start screen you can mix and match which workouts you want to do that day - 1 is abs, 2 is arms, and 3 is butt and thighs. You can do them in any order and each one is about 15 minutes, so you can do whatever you've got time for. The DVD also has a recommended workout schedule for you if you want to do the 21 day challenge, so that you're not burning yourself out trying to do all three or just focusing on one zone.The workouts themselves were good, very active and showed me some moves I'd never really seen before. However, I wouldn't call them "beginner". I'm 24, in pretty decent shape, and with a bit of yoga and Pilates experience, and I had trouble keeping up with what they were doing at first. I have since loaned the DVD to my 42-year-old friend who has a weight problem and lupus because she was looking for some moves to tone her arms, since she's lost a lot of weight recently. I thought this would give her some good ideas for some moves but warned her she probably won't be able to do everything because of her lupus. She has since said that she does like the DVD but because Denise doesn't give much direction on moves, such as telling you if you should be going to the left or right, or how many times to do a move, she gets confused and has to pause it a lot. On the plus side, she said she has lost two pounds since starting it and she's feeling more toned in the lat area. Plus, Denise and the other ladies move so quick without breaking down the moves first that less coordinated people might struggle to see what they're doing.My other problem with the DVD is that they don't tell you that you need a small towel and a set of hand weights before you start, and I didn't see it mentioned on the DVD box, either. This wasn't a huge deal for me, since I just used an old t-shirt instead of a towel and I had a set of hand weights already, but I could see it being a problem if you don't already have a set of weights at home.Overall, I liked this DVD. It has variety, it's challenging without being too difficult if you've done a bit of yoga and Pilates before, and it made me feel good. I didn't see much change in my body, but maybe my abs got a little more sculpted. You probably won't see anything drastic in just three weeks though. However, it's not great for true beginners because the moves aren't broken down and go pretty quick. Make sure you have a towel (or old t-shirt or something) handy for the ab section of the workout and a set of small hand weights for the arms portion.

I purchased this item at the start of September with a UK delivery address and it does not work in the UK. I don’t know anything about the DVD worldwide regions but assumed that because I had bought it from the amazon.co.uk site and gave a UK delivery address that it would work in this country but alas it does not. So the moral of this story is don’t assume anything and check your DVD regions!! Sadly I have only just tried it out so am too late for a refund so I’ll just have to bin it I suppose.Amazon - in the future perhaps you might consider not selling products on your UK site that cannot be used in this country so that other customers won’t be tricked like me!

This is the fastest, safest (no injuries) easiest and most effective work out I've ever had. From totally no muscle tone, I've changed within a month to lovely muscle tones and confidence by 20 mins- 30 mins a day . I'm over 50. This is the way to go.

This is my first pilates dvd - and I just love it! - Denise Austin is a good trainer and even if she repeats a lot of her encouragements I find her motivating and easy to follow. In the few weeks I have owned this workout I have toned my body and built muscles. I am having a lot of fun with this program and I am looking forward in doing the exercices. Thank you Denise Austin !

Not a fan of this video

Loook forward to exercising in the morning