Fitness Pilates Pilates Workouts

Heat Up Your Entire Body With This 22-Minute Cardio Pilates Workout

Jess Freedman

February 22, 2021

My favorite thing about Pilates is that no two workouts are ever exactly the same. While you always know that a Pilates session will bring that hurts-so-good feeling to every muscle in your body, you never know exactly how it's going to challenge you—and today's Trainer of the Month Club workout is a perfect example of that. This 22-minute cardio Pilates sequence with Brian Spencer of East River Pilates will combine classical Pilates moves that you know and love, with cardio moves that you might find in a strength-style workout. We know, we thought we were safe from doing burpees in a Pilates class too, but Spencer will give you a newfound appreciation for them by adding his Pilates magic to the HIIT staple.

Experts In This Article

Brian Spencer, instructor at East River Pilates in New York City

Increasing the intensity of your workouts will definitely get the sweat flowing, but there is an additional benefit to leveling up your Pilates game with a cardio boost: increased stamina. Stamina refers to your body's ability to sustain a challenge action over a certain period of time. Simply put, it's what keeps you going. When Spencer tells you it's time to hit some push-ups (spoiler alert), and the little voice inside your head wants to stop after a few reps, you can thank your stamina for being your in-house personal trainer—pushing you to get just one more.

Here is the rundown for today's workout: four rounds, four minutes each. After a quick warm-up, you'll start off with a round of core work, upper body, lower body, and you'll finish off by putting it all together with a full-body challenge. Each round, Spencer will start you off in a foundational Pilates exercise and progress you to an advanced one, spending a full minute on each movement. "You will feel that a minute is very long in some cases," says Spencer.

Spencer's advice for when 60 seconds is feeling more like 600 seconds: "Make sure to listen to your body." Listening to your body is key to pacing yourself throughout these next 22 minutes. The best approach to building stamina is knowing when to push yourself, and when to back off. Taking breaks, slowing down the speed, and lowering the impact of certain movements are all great ways to make sure that you are able to finish the workout just as strong as when you started. So roll out a mat, and hit play on the video above to start strong today.

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