For over two years I’ve been working out religiously. I would wake up each morning and do a rigorous aerobics routine six days a week. My knees would hurt and for a half hour after the workout I’d be tired, breathless and sore. Later in the day, I’d head out for a 30 minute powerwalk. After all that exercise, I felt I was in great shape. I was strong. I looked and felt good. I lifted weights every other day. I wanted to regain the gymnast body of my eternal youth.

Unfortunately, even after all that exercise, I still had half a fistful of fat right beneath my navel and on each hip. That’s not too bad, but it was still not the ideal body I was seeking. Those “fat bits” were still there after 600 sit ups a day! There had to be a better way. There had to be a more sophisticated method of getting my younger body back while losing the fistfuls. But how? What workout program could I use to slenderize my body and lengthen my muscles? The answer came to me in the form of a conversation with Sigourney Weaver I had ten years ago: Pilates.

Not Closed Captioned!
Unfortunately, none of the videos reviewed overall in this series are Closed Captioned. Closed Captioning lets the Deaf and Hearing Impaired visually see what’s being spoken. Closed Captioning is also a valuable teaching tool for children and non-native English speakers who need to see, as well as hear, the spoken word in order to understand the issue at hand. My wife is Deaf, so I am especially sensitive to this universal issue of inclusion. My wife is unable to use any of the Stott videotapes for her workouts because there’s too much happening in too short a time with the camera pointed on a body and not a speaking face.

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