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Pilates Body in MotionOctober 30, 2008 This is the best of the pilates books I own. The explainations and illustrations make the moves easy to understand and do properly. There are several one page charts for beginner, intermediate and advanced. I found these valuable for learning to flow through the routines without having to turn a page in the book for the next move. This is a great book for a beginner or an advanced user who wants to learn the proper form and get great results quickly.Pilates: Body in Motion
Good for beginners.May 24, 2008 This is a well-illustrated, well-written book that explains the Pilates method and the origin of Palates. The pictures and captions make learning the basics very easy. I'm now ready to take a Palates class without feeling awkward and uncomfortable. I recommend it for anyone interested in training in Palates. A must book to read before taking a class.
great travel or miss the studio solutionSeptember 6, 2007 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Great tool for travel or when you miss the studio. I am just a pilates student, so having something to hold my hand and direct me is needed, so just flipping through the deck in the suggested order has been great. I don't think its a beginners tool because the descriptions somewhat assume you already know the basics IMHO. I had a cheat sheet I made myself with little drawings and notes, but this is so much easier.
For beginnersAugust 31, 2006 4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This basic manual for Pilates is especially helpful because of the cautions about avoiding poor form while you're doing the exercises. The limitations of any book attempting to teach you how to do physical movements is offset by the authors' knowledge of what mistakes typical beginners make.
Not good for a complete novice.August 13, 2006 6 out of 12 found this review helpful
I'm training for a certain activity and was told that Pilates would be great to do because many people in the sport do it. I knew _absolutely nothing_ about Pilates. I asked around at local fitness clubs but couldn't find any instructors. Lacking local instruction, I bought this book based on the recommendations here.
The many pictures and instructions for the actual exercises were very easy to follow. However, the information in the introduction (including an explanation of the 6 basic principles) left me so very frustrated and confused! The book says to flatten your lower spine against the mat ('neutral spine') by 'lengthening' your spine without moving your hips or other body parts...but that's physiologically impossible! Does she not understand the basic mechanics of the body? And 'scooping' is described as feeling like a corset being tightened around your waist...which is only helpful if you've worn a corset before. Since the book implies that the exercises do little good if you don't have these principles right, the good, clear instructions on the actual exercises are probably useless to me because I don't clearly understand most of the basic principles.
I also doubt some of the claims of Pilates now that I've learned more about the system. I'm sure the system works fairly well at 'core' strength training for most people who use it, but some of the other claims seem a bit mystical in nature. If you love this method, that's great. If you understand the basic principles of Pilates, then this is probably a great book for you. Otherwise, I just can't recommend this book. I'll stick with "Straighter, Stronger, Leaner, Longer" by Renee Daniels which works the 'core' muscles as well as every last bit of the rest of your body.
