Mari Winsor Slimming Pilates – Review | Diet and Exercise | Real Life Fitness | PhitZone

Review of pilates in-a-box by Mari Winsor

Mari Winsor Slimming Pilates Kit

Caution – Affiliate links ahead. This is not a sponsored review, and the only compensation received was the kit that Gaiam sent us to review. I have included some affiliate links to Amazon in order to help support this site.

Have you ever found something that was buried in a closet, and when you find it, it feels like Christmas?

Gaiam, the company that produces various workout DVD’s, sent us this Pilates kit by Mari Winsor to review for you.

At the time I was powerlifting and Pilates didn’t fit in that routine very well. Becca was recovering from shoulder surgery, and was on strict orders not to exercise. The box got put away, and forgotten about.

What a mistake.

Pilates – What are they?

Pilates were the brainchild of Josheph Pilates in Germany in the early 1900′s. His system started out as bodyweight exercises performed on mats. It reminds me of something that you’d see gymnasts and dancers using.

The basic idea of Pilates is movements that require you to engage your mind in order to control.

As time progressed, Pilates developed a contraption referred to as the “apparatus”. There have been, and continue to be, many pieces of equipment used in Pilates.

Back to the story

After discovering the box, I opened it to discover a cache of stuff. There were two DVD boxes, some kind of contraption that involved a padded bar and rubber tube, measuring tape and some pamphlets.

I was impressed at how solidly the bar and tube was. The handles unscrew making the whole thing very adjustable to the task at hand. Overall, it’s a well made piece of equipment that should last many years.

While there were only two DVD’s, there are five workouts available. That many workouts gives you a lot of flexibility, and will keep you from getting bored. That’s always a win in our book. On top of that, the production quality is outstanding. Then again, I’d expect nothing less from Gaiam.

I’m not going to lie, just like yoga, this is tough stuff. My muscles were burning before we were done with the warm-up. I’m sure that after you do it for a bit, you will get used to that though.

Pilates for weight-loss

Included in the pamphlets, I found diet information, as well as a plan for weightloss. The included tape measure is to aid in tracking your body’s transformation over time. I’m a huge supporter of tracking progress, so this is another win.

Conclusion

So, what are my thoughts on Mari Winsor’s Slimming Pilates Kit? That completely depends on what your goals are. Yes, you will strengthen your muscles. With proper diet, pilates will definitely help.

I wouldn’t ‘just’ do Pilates though. It may do very well with the strength training portion of your workout, but there is no cardiovascular benefits that I could find. If you paired Pilates with a cardio aspect in your training, this could work quite well.

As I mentioned, there are affiliate links throughout this post. They all take you to an Amazon page. If you are interested in purchasing the Slimming Pilates Kit, please consider using one of these links to help support PhitZone. We love what we do, but we would also love to get paid for it if we can.

Thanks