Let's Pilates!

What’s the Story?

LET'S PILATES! is a fitness application for the Nintendo DS that teaches people about Pilates, a workout regimen that can improve core strength and posture. Players watch a female instructor demonstrate dozens of different Pilates exercises like the Seal, Swandive, and Shoulder Bridge and then try the moves themselves in their own living room.

In Quick Pilates mode, players can select a long 18-minute routine or short 3-minute routine based on goals like Tighten Your Waist, Tone Your Legs, or Flexible Hips. My Sets lets players create a customized routine by selecting exercises of their choice which can be stored. Challenge mode is where players master new exercises to unlock extras like new outfits and mats for the instructor, tips about how to incorporate Pilates into daily life, and trivia about the history of Pilates. A calendar keeps track of how many minutes are spent on exercising each day.

Is It Any Good?

Although it can't replace the expertise and real-time feedback of a human instructor, Let's Pilates does an admirable job of using an animated model to demonstrate each exercise in several steps complete with instructions presented in both text and voice-over. The atmosphere is relaxing and the background music is pleasant, making Let's Pilates a more than passable substitute if you'd rather do Pilates at home instead of signing up for classes. The voice-overs and visuals mean that even younger players can follow along with the instructions, and they'll appreciate the game-like unlockable tasks in Challenge mode.