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Pilates For Dummies [Paperback]

Ellie Herman (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

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Book Description

May 6, 2002
Once the secret fitness weapon of professional dancers, athletes, and movie stars, Pilates is sweeping the country with a vengeance. And if even half of what its many fans claim is true, then it’s easy to see why. Combining elements of yoga, dance, gymnastics, and boxing, along with many original movements, Pilates exercises build muscle tone, improve flexibility and balance, lengthen the spine, increase body awareness, and repair past injuries. Most people who’ve done it, even for a short time, say they feel stronger and more energized, centered and physically confident than ever before. They also like having the flat tummies, tight buns, and long lean thighs of a dancer.

Pilates For Dummies lets you get on board with the Pilates method , without the high cost of private instruction. Packed with step-by-step exercises, photos, and illustrations, it helps you develop your own Pilates fitness program to do at home or in the gym. Top Pilates trainer Ellie Herman shows you how to use eight basic Pi lates principles to get the most out of your mat-based routines and:

  • Look and feel better than ever
  • Get stronger, more flexible, in control and less prone to injury
  • Target and tone problem areas
  • Get movie star abs, buns, thighs and arms
  • Repair chronic stress and sports injuries

Calmly, clearly, and with quirky good humor, Ellie explores the origins and basic philosophy of the Pilates method, and helps you set realistic fitness goals and custom-tailor a program. She also covers:

  • Basic, intermediate , and advanced mat exercises
  • Using Pilates exercise equipment and accessories
  • Targeting specific areas including the stomach, back, thighs, and chest
  • Pilates for the pregnant and recently pregnant body
  • Using Pilates to heal injuries, reform posture
  • Ten simple ways to incorporate Pilates into your everyday life
  • Combining Pilates with other forms of exercise, including yoga, swimming, aerobics, and more

Why let the rich and famous have all the fun? Your complete, friendly, step-by-step guide, Pilates For Dummies shows how Pilates can offer a fitness program for the rest of us.


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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Packed with step-by-step exercises, photos, and illustrations

Target problem areas and feel and look better without doing aerobics!

Pilates fever is sweeping across the country! This friendly guide helps you develop your own Pilates fitness program perfect for home or the gym. Eight basic principles show you how to get the most out of your mat-based Pilates routines and become stronger, more in control, and less prone to injury.

The Dummies Way

  • Explanations in plain English
  • "Get in, get out" information
  • Icons and other navigational aids
  • Tear-out cheat sheet
  • Top ten lists
  • A dash of humor and fun

Get smart! @www.dummies.com

  • Find listings of all our books
  • Create your own personalized book with Hungry Minds a la Carte™
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About the Author

Ellie Herman runs two Pilates studios, where she teaches hundreds of students and certifies Pilates teachers. She studied under two of Joseph Pilates' original students.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 360 pages
  • Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (May 6, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0764553976
  • ISBN-13: 978-0764553974
  • Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #373,697 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ellie Herman is an internationally reknown Pilates instructor and author with twenty years of experience. She has authored eight Pilates books including; Pilates for Dummies, Pilates Props Workbook, Pilates Workbook on the Ball, and a series of five Pilates manuals covering all the major Pilates modalities: Pilates Mat, Reformer, Cadillac, Wunda Chair and Pilates Springboard.
Based in the Bay Area for more than twenty years, Ellie founded Ellie Herman Studios in San Francisco (1992), Oakland (2000) and then relocated to New York, and opened her third studio in Brooklyn (2005). While overseeing these three studios, Ellie trained hundreds of Pilates Instructors, many of whom have gone on to open their own studios.
Ellie invented a piece of Pilates equipment called The Pilates Springboard, an inexpensive and space saving version of the Cadillac, manufactured and distributed by Balanced Body, Inc.
Ellie developed Walk-ilates, a system that uses Pilates-based exercises to correct faulty alignment and gait patterns.
Ellie has an MS in Acupuncture and Chinese Herbology.

 

Customer Reviews

16 Reviews
5 star:
 (10)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Pilates Made Easy, August 4, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Pilates For Dummies (Paperback)
I bought this book expecting it to be like most self help books, worthless. I was wrong! This book did an excellent job of explaining the workouts. I liked that she gave hints to make certain excerizes easier on beginers. I was also suprised to see results so fast! I got the book to help me tone my abs and after a week I could see my tummy coming in and feel myself standing up straight as my posture also improved! I am going on 3 weeks of doing the 10 min abs work out that is at the end of chapter 6 and it is doing wonders! I love pilates and I love this book! I recommend it to anyone who wants to look good, but not bulky like all the muscle-heads at the gym!
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely the best -, May 13, 2002
This review is from: Pilates For Dummies (Paperback)
Excellent book - clear directions and wonderful photos that show each exercise step by step. This is the Pilates book you've been waiting for!
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Great if you already have some body knowledge, October 16, 2005
By 
Spiralina (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Pilates For Dummies (Paperback)
This book was one of my mom's rejects for the reason that she couldn't make head nor tail of the instructions. I like it quite a bit, but I have a background in modern dance and was already familiar with isolating different muscle groups. I think if you don't have a good sense of your body already, this book might be too confusing to start with.

So far there's a lot of good material for me to work with, although much of the book is dedicated to repetitive touting of the benefits of pilates (yes, we already know it tones) as well as super-advanced exercises using complicated equipment, which aren't really "for dummies." Still, the workouts are fun, challenging, and feel good on my body. I would recommend glancing at the instructions before buying and seeing if they make sense to you. If they do, you'll probably like this book -- otherwise, maybe try a video or simpler book.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
What is Pilates? In a word, magic. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
squeezing your butt, squeeze your butt, pull your navel, scooping your belly, balance throughout the exercise, hip over hip, squeeze your inner thighs, percussive breathing, mermaid position, torso stability, stacking the spine, press your weight, upper back arch, wunda chair, glut max, other exercise forms, flatten your lower, mat series, torso stable, abdominal position, shoulder over shoulder, deep abdominal muscles, hip distance, pull your belly, neutral pelvis
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Abdominal Scoop, Neutral Spine, Balance Point, Upper Abdominal Curls, Pilates First Position, Coccyx Curls, Open Leg Rocker, Rising Swan, Single Leg Stretch, Tiny Steps, Basic Cat, New York, Spine Stretch Forward, Chicken Wings, Double Leg Stretch, Control Front, Shoulder Slaps, Super Advanced Corkscrew, Joe Pilates, Swan Dive, Kathy Grant, Neck Pull, Sexy Spine Stretch, Single Leg Kick, Shoulder Bridge
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