Ellen Barrett

So here's a portrait of yoga in the 21st Century: this ancient discipline, created thousands of years ago to enhance the meditative experience (the asanas or poses commonly used in hatha yoga were in fact designed to enable meditators to sit quietly, calmly and comfortably for hours on end), is now "a total body blast," with users urged to "get hard core" and "feel the groove," all so "your torso will look buff." At least that's how Ellen Barrett, the relentlessly sunny instructor featured in Crunch Yoga's Super SlimDown: Pilates Yoga Blend, sees it. But while that approach may sound pretty frightening to traditionalists, this can't in fairness be viewed as a typical yoga video; nor does Barrett, who commingles power yoga moves and what she describes as "core-conditioning power pilates," make any claims that it is. Many of the poses--including Warrior II, extended right angle, cobra, locust, and others--will certainly be familiar to yogis.

Welcome to CRUNCH Fitness! Get the best of both worlds and the most for your effort with this winning combination: calorie-burning cardio along with Pilates-based toning. Impact safe yet so effective, it maximizes your fat-burning potential. You'll start with easy-to-follow cardio that skillfully blends dance and low impact cardio with standing Pilates-inspired moves into one routine to challenge your aerobic fitness, improve your posture and put you more in touch with the power of your "core." Then, kick off your shoes and hit the floor to tighten and tone your favorite body parts, including abs, butt and thighs. Get long, lean, sexy muscles with our series of Pilates mat exercises, sure to give you a year-round bikini body! For faster results than Pilates alone, this combo workout can help you sculpt your body AND burn fat! For all fitness levels. A mat or rug and bare feet are highly recommended for the Pilates floorwork.

3 Targeted 10-Minute Workouts For Your: BELLY - BUTT THIGHS. Welcome to CRUNCH Fitness! Change your body in 10 minutes? It is possible. Pick Your Spot Pilates targets your favorite body parts to train: the belly, butt and thighs, with three l0-minute workouts. We've made every minute count with classic Pilates mat exercises to tone, firm, and re-shape your body. Gentle yet challenging, and easy-to-follow, Pilates focuses on precise breathing techniques to get in touch with your body's core so you can sculpt without bulk, creating sleek abs, leaner legs, and a bikini butt. Do one program at a time or all three in a row. These mini- workouts are completely self-contained including a warm- up, a fabulous workout, and cool-down all in 10 minutes! If you're time-crunched and need to squeeze in your workouts, this program is for you.