New workouts

LITTLE ROCK — 10 Minute Solution: Slim & Sculpt Pilates, Starz/Anchor Bay, 50 minutes, DVD, $16.98. Available at

Amazon.com, cduniverse.com and other retailers.

We've always approached Pilates with resistance, so when instructor Suzanne Bowen introduced Slim & Sculpt Pilates as being "Pilates with resistance," we snapped our purple exercise band in joy.

But we misunderstood. The stretchy band, which comes neatly folded inside the DVD case, provides the resistance that helps you tone and strengthen your body. And once you've done not even one, but half of one, of the five 10-minute segments on this DVD, resistance to the Pilates method of exercise wavers, then snaps like a worn-out band.

Pilates, with its focus on perfect form and breathing, can be an excruciatingly tedious - although, we admit, effective - way to get in shape. But Bowen somehow makes each 10 minutes pass quickly. In fact, after the first segment, we were rarin' for more.

Use of the band simulates the type of resistance you'd experience when working out on the Pilates Reformer device, which is a box-like contraption with straps, belts and pulleys that resembles a medieval torture machine. The band is much more economical and easier to carry around.

Each segment of the DVD has a different focus: upper body, lower body, abdominal muscles, total body and flexibility. You can do all as one workout or pick and choose segments to suit yourself. If all you want is a kick-abs workout, then the routine here is perfect. It works all the abdominal muscles without the monotony of crunches.

In the upper body workout, you perform standard moves such as the biceps curl, but get even more benefit from one that Bowen calls a bicep pressup - a move that doesn't work well with dumbbells. She works triceps by "drawing the sword," which involves securing the band under one foot, holding the band with the opposite hand and pulling it across the body as if you were removing a sword from its scabbard.

The workouts are suitable for experienced exercisers, as well as beginners, because you can decrease or increase the resistance simply by where you place your hands on the band.

Bowen provides clear and precise cues, which makes it easy to follow her as she flows gracefully from movement to movement.

But if you have trouble getting into position before a set is half over, you can simply pause the DVD or rewind and start over. Because the routines are slow-paced, you won't feel as if you've lost momentum.

This workout promotes a feeling of well-being and the resolve to do it again, and again. It could become a habit. Embrace the resistance.