Pilates by Izzy workouts have become a staple of my fitness routine. Since discovering her channel, I've been following her explosive rise to success in the YouTube Pilates community, now amassing over one million subscribers in little over a year from her first video. Her viral 25 Day Pilates x Strength challenge was one of my favorite fitness programs from 2025, twenty five brilliant workouts that take the practice to a higher level of difficulty. Now, Izzy is currently releasing a new version of the challenge, with videos premiering every day from January 1. And in January 1, I took out my mat and decided to challenge myself again alongside Izzy, making this challenge my main workout for this month.
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| Photo by Elena Kloppenburg from Unsplash |
If you're not familiar with Izzy Samuel, she's an Australian certified Pilates instructor based in Indonesia. Her Pilates inspired videos borrow elements from strength training and sculpt workouts, often requiring light weights and other props to increase muscle resistance. Long flows with overlapping movement layers and pulses are Izzy's signature style, making her workouts more suitable for those already familiar with the Pilates practice or with a solid fitness foundation. Despite the increasing difficulty compared to regular Pilates classes, Izzy will still guide and provide cues through the entire workout, with videos being recorded in real time with basically no cuts. A lovely instructor with a kind yet assertive personality, Izzy will always encourage you to push further and listen to your body.
And without further ado, here's a little bit of my experience this last week with the first five workouts of the challenge.
Day 1: 40 Minutes Full Body
Required equipment: Light hand weights and optional ankle weights. Izzy uses 2 kg (about 5 pounds), I used 1 kg (about 3 pounds), I didn't use ankle weights.
Coming back to Pilates from a hectic holiday season, I absolutely dreaded seeing the forty minute duration. The initial ab sequence with the legs at tabletop felt endless, my upper abs were not cooperating even with the lighter weights. The unilateral donkey kick sequence felt pretty good, though my pushups still need work. The standing sequence includes a lunge directly into a knee drive as the main flow, it got pretty wobbly but I managed to finish it.
I don't own ankle weights but I would skip them for this one to keep up with my form, especially during the ab series. I still struggle with maintaining an imprint spine for that long in a tabletop position.
It was a rough day 1, but I felt excited for day 2.
Day 2: 15 Minute Core Workout
Required equipment: Pilates ball. I used a round plushie to substitute the ball.
It was my birthday so I wanted to take things easy. This short ab sequence wasn't easy at all, though I tried my best. The ball aided crunches felt great, the leg lowers not so much. A bicycle variation while holding the ball to the thigh simply felt awkward, so I skipped the ball and did the rest of the sequence bodyweight. My abs felt sore through the rest of the day.
Day 3: 30 Minute Full Body Strength
Required equipment: Light hand weights and a yoga block,optional ankle weights. i used 1 kg weights (about 3 pounds) and a thick book to substitute the yoga block. I didn't use ankle weights.
I preview the workouts before doing them, and when I saw the block I feared for my legs. The ab sequence in this one felt much better than the one on Day 1, perhaps thank to the block helping me to activate the lower abs. The bridge sequence was pretty long, but I managed to keep up with Izzy without much trouble. A standing sequence with the block under one heel and the other heel elevated felt a little bit weird, at least there wasn't that much of a difference in the elevation of both feet.
A plank sequence with the block and knee push ups was the finisher for this one, my arms felt like noodles at the end.
Day 4: 15 Minutes Upper Body
Required equipment: Light hand weights. Izzy used 2 kg (about 5 pounds), I used 3 kg (about 3 pounds).
This express workout is almost entirely in a half kneel, using the dumbbells to perform variations of upper body exercises like rows and presses. I used a lighter weight than Izzy, but I would have liked trying with a heavier weight to challenge myself further.
Day 5: 30 Minutes Full Body
Equipment required: Light dumbbells and a small ball, optional ankle weights. I used 1 kg weights (about 3 pounds) and a small plushie to substitute the ball. I didn't use ankle weights.
This particular workout had some newer sequences rather than the usual full body moves. An ab sequence emulating rowing, a donkey kick/knee pushup/downward dog knee drive combo using the ball and a killer finisher combining the bear crawl position with a side plank opener. I felt challenged, though not exhausted with this workout.
Thoughts:
Even though I'm far more familiarized with Pilates and Izzy's workouts than during the first challenge, these workouts felt like a step up in intensity and complexity of the flows. Props are used more creatively here, with the ball especially being a nice addition for increasing range of motion without the stiffness of the block. I personally think ankle weights could compromise my form so I'm skipping them for the entirety of this challenge, these workouts are challenging enough for me at this point.
This time I'm trying to focus more on connecting with my breath, following Izzy's cues at the beginning of each sequence has been very helpful. As usual, Izzy's instructions are excellent to the point that you don't need to watch the screen to follow along. Having no music also helps me to focus, unlike other Pilates instructors on YouTube.
Overall, I'm pretty excited (and somewhat scared) for the rest of the challenge. Izzy will post a video every day, so I'll try to do the remaining workouts every day. Though there's technically no rest day, I've paired the shorter workouts with mobility or light exercise to count as active rest.
Do I recommend this challenge?
If you're familiar with Pilates or moderately fit, I'd say yes. All the videos so far have been labelled as intermediate-advanced and intermediate, so apparently there won't be beginner friendly workouts on this challenge. As Izzy says, always remember to modify and take breaks when needed. I also recommend using lighter weights than Izzy (she uses 2 kg/3 pounds) if you're trying her workouts for the first time, then go heavier if you feel confident in your form. You can find the playlist for the new challenge in this link.
And if you're a beginner but want to try an Izzy workout, the workout below is fairly doable and requires no equipment.
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