Pilaga

I did not buy FitQuest 1 for the Pilaga workout, so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Pilaga. Most of it was not terribly difficult, although a section for the obliques got surprisingly hard. It seemed like Kathy targeted the quads and hip flexors quite a bit. I also appreciated a new (to me) variation on thread the needle. Some of the other exercises included the hundreds, v-sits, tabletop, dandasana and variations, pigeon and variations, lunge and variations, supermans, swimming, and corpse pose. Kathy often brings a fresh twist to moves, giving lots of flowing variations. All in all, it was a nice, refreshing fusion workout that focused mainly on lengthening the body. I felt relaxed by the end, and my core felt somewhat worked as well.

The pilates-based segments have the most set up, but I actually appreciated it, as I needed the reminders about pulling in the belly, etc. She also tends to have you do a few breaths before starting or after completing a set, which might be annoying if you wanted the video to move faster. I didn't mind it, maybe because I really like the brief meditations on Ravi & Ana's workouts.

Although the back cover lists her influences as Pilates, yoga, dance, and martial arts, I didn't see any martial arts per se in the workout. The music, by the way, was fantastic--flamenco-type guitar (similar to sections of Margaret Richard's Fitness Becomes You or maybe Hilary Burnett).

I would rate this video as somewhat less difficult than Kari Anderson's Angles, Lines, & Curves. It's definitely not advanced, at most an intermediate level. As with ALC, my main problem with this one will be fitting it in. But I think it works well for a recovery week, which is how I used it today.

Minor quibbles: I'm not a big fan of the name Pilaga itself. Also, Kathy's top was a little revealing, which was distracting during some moves.