Austin Power Zone Mind, Body, Soul

[Guest guest]

I had pilates or yoga down to do today and actually intended to do a different but this one was on the shelf near the one I'd planned and when I saw it was pilates AND yoga and 5 minutes shorter (I was time crunched today), I figured I'd give it a try. I have it on VHS and it was a virgin for me. I found this review on amazon (and then saw it also on VF) and it described the workout so perfectly and reflected my own thoughts extremely well too, I thought I'd just copy & paste it (with recognition given to the author, of course).

4.0 out of 5 stars A nice fusion workout blending yoga, Pilates, & dance moves, October 4, 2004

By

Beth Cholette "doctor_beth" (Upstate NY USA) - See all my reviews(TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Austin - Power Zone - Mind, Body, Soul [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Austin's Mind Body Soul is a 40-minute workout which nicely blends different exercise styles. It is filmed on an outdoors-y looking set, and works out with two background exercisers. The first section, Mind, begins with a 5-minute warm-up which concentrates on breathing and spine stretches and then moves into an additional 5-minutes of standing yoga postures. The poses (warrior II, side angle, triangle) flow nicely and include some more challenging balances such as warrior III and dancer. gives good reminders to focus on your breathing, although she overuses trite phrases such as "your spine is your life line." The middle segment, Body, consists of Pilates movements performed mostly in a standing position. In the first 10 minutes, you will replicate Pilates matwork moves such as single leg stretch, criss-cross, double leg stretch, spine stretch, and saw, all while standing erect. However, you will also perform some challenging plank work from a push-up position on the floor. The following 10 minutes require the assistance of a wall. Initially, the wall is used for support during 1-legged moves such as leg kicks, leg circles, rear kicks, and heel beats. Next, the wall is used for some strength moves, including a wall squat, a triceps isometric exercise, and wall push-ups. Throughout this section, repeatedly reminds you to "zip up" your abdominal area so that you really feel the work in your midsection. The final section of this video, Soul, was a 10-minute dance-type stretch. The exercises performed included mambos, lunges, and additional warrior poses, but the moves seemed to serve as more of a cool-down function rather than cardio or toning. This was my least favorite section of the video; it may have worked better if the Mind and Soul segments had been reversed. Overall, however, I found this to be an enjoyable workout for light toning and general stretching. 's personality is a bit more subdued than usual here, and because the workout moves slowly, I found her much easier to follow than in her aerobic workouts.

I especially enjoyed the middle segment. I don't think I've ever done a standing pilates workout before. I don't think it worked me as well as mat work does but it was very interesting and enjoyable. The work done against the wall seemed creative and pretty effective too. The pilates work also uses a chair for some exercises, though she has a short wall on the video. It reminded me of the very little I know of barre work and she does refer to it as being like dance work. Overall, I really liked this workout and did not expect to at all. I don't expect to like most of the time and she continually surprises me. The set was really neat to look at (it looks like it is done at night in what I picture as an African village, though I honestly know nothing of what an African village really looks like. The music seemd to fit it all really well too. This is great for a light day, especially when I don't feel like doing light cardio, plus I just felt really good when I finished it. Definitely a keeper.