When looking at a Gaiam DVD certain defining trademarks are to be expected. These include beautiful scenery from around the world, peaceful and restful music and instructors who know their stuff. Pilates For Beginners slots in comfortably among the enormous Gaiam catalogue of DVD workouts in varying methods of self improvement.

Set in what looks like Alaska or Canada beneath a massive mountainhead, the DVD takes us right into the heart of pilates themselves, exploring their every detail and origins in well-delivered style. Host Jillian Hessel has been instructing pilates for over 20 years and is in the peak of physical fitness for not only someone her age, but seemingly any age. Utilising a headset microphone she takes us through an entire well-planned workout for over 70 minutes, never once sounding out of breath, although the exercises are increasingly more difficult throughout. This kind of professionalism is a recognisable trait of Gaiam on DVD and makes for a great value package.

There’s a choice of three performers to watch according to your level of fitness, from beginner through to the very advanced. This broadens the field of relevance and also aims to not talk down to the individual, but encourage without patronising.

Ms Hessel also utilises her hands to ascribe muscle movement that would ordinarily be invisible, thereby giving a greater description of what the particular exercise is good for and how it’s going to affect the individual long-term. The DVD also caters for both males and females with variations on each exercise for both sexes, making it a great all round disc for everyone.

Camerawork is excellent, as usual, and keeps moving whilst never losing the action. Clever editing and this creative camerawork are in perfect harmony for maximum visual interest and lack of confusion. The whole thing is artefact-free and has very little by way of computer artefacts or compression problems. There are also lots of nice little cutaways as breaks or titles to see the amazing scenery where this has been shot.

The live audio, recorded, as mentioned, with a microphone headset has been handled magnificently. There are no instances of heavy breathing and in the times we are required to listen to how Ms Hessel is breathing (so as to reciprocate), it is well recorded and well defined. The audio is in Dolby Digital 2.0 which is more than adequate for a piece like this and is very well produced. Music comes through nicely with no noise or static and gives an overall sense of peacefulness to the proceedings. Again, this is not unusual to this studio’s DVDs and defines yet another excellent production.

As to extras, we get another payload here. There is an Extra Workout for beginners which is designed to help improve the individual’s fitness level so as to make full use of the DVDs other workouts. This is 30 minutes long and is much the same as the others, just a little more simplified and less strenuous. B.E.A.M. (Breathe, Energise, Align and Move) is a unique lesson structure created by Ms Hessel and has been presented as a Live Tutorial in these fundamentals. This excellent instruction runs for just under 20 minutes, again aimed at helping understand the origins and fundamentals necessary to get the most possible from the whole DVD. It’s quite refreshing to see this sort of thing on one DVD and presented as an extra, rather than a separate disc you need to fork out more on. Finally there is a ten minute Interview with Jillian Hessel herself that gives a good deal of information about her classes, her entry into pilates and some info on Mr Joseph Pilates who invented this form of exercise.

So all up the exercises run for well over an hour and a half, which is far more than usual for this sort of DVD. It is well presented, well recorded and speaks to the individual on their own level, which is so important. Another Gaiam well-rounded disc that will increase in value the longer you use it.