The author runs a prominent Pilates studio in Manhattan and trained with one of Joseph Pilates’ original students. However, despite that background, this book is less of an encyclopedia of authentic Pilates exercises and instead a good opportunity to help ordinary people (especially women apply Pilates in real life).
His point is that he has seen many students do well for an hour while being taught or working out, but then forget about Pilates when they leave the studio. They walk hunched over, hunched over, etc.
You want everyone to use Pilates when it is meant to be used, all the time. You cannot do the exercises continuously, but you can and should keep your posture straight, your weight evenly distributed, and your spine in line with your muscles.
It is not good for your health to practice correct movements three to five hours a week, but the rest of the time you fall back into your unhealthy habits.
It begins with a basic training on Pilates and its principles, and on the concepts of the Pilates movement: stability / mobility, resistance / operation, leverage, articulation and balance.
She goes over the benefits of good posture and Pilates-style breathing, as well as tips on how to sit and stand with good posture, so you don’t stress your joints.
Then it includes an unusual section: How to apply Pilates principles to exercise on various exercise equipment: treadmills, elliptical machines, stationary bikes, stair machines, and rowing machines. She gives four variations on the usual way of using these machines and advises spending two minutes each (the usual way plus four variations equals five), for a total of ten.
His advice here is to use each machine for the total ten minutes, then move on to the next, for a workout that lasts almost an hour. This is a cardio circuit.
Here are a number of exercises and variations that you can do at home and on the mat. Lifting weights, jumping jacks, using flexible bands, jumping rope, rolling up, rolling like a ball, stretching one leg, stretching two legs, stretching one leg straight, stretching two legs straight, criss-crossing, stretching the spine forward, rocker spread legs, double leg kicks and lower back stretch.
It also includes information on correct posture for common everyday activities: sitting, standing, carrying grocery bags, carrying babies, sitting in front of your computer, using a copier, and driving.
Another chapter covers the application of Pilates to various sports such as golf (according to the author, Tiger Woods did), skiing, snowboarding, and tennis.
This is a great beginner’s book to remind you to bring Pilates success from the studio into your daily life. I doubt that many people can do it themselves unless they are too young to have developed many bad habits.
But if you are already in Pilates classes and therefore already strengthening your core, learning to align your spine, exercising your muscles in a balanced way, and increasing your flexibility, this is a great guide to bring Pilates into your daily life. , for greater progress and better health.