Customer Reviews

Standing Pilates: Strengthen and Tone Your Body Wherever You Are

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am fairly fit and a new convert to Pilates. I bought this book largely on the quality of the reviews and on its do-it-anywhere marketing. Ah, good, I thought. Maybe ways to apply some of the Pilates strengthening principles to standing at the photocopier or in line, or doing the dishes.

The book offers only limited thoughts along these lines at the end, where much last third or so of the book is devoted primarily to lists of practitioners (either out of date or soon to be).

The exercises in this book, especially the recommendations for intermediate and more advanced variations, are about as "do it anywhere" as that of an intermediate vinyasa yoga class, and as a whole constitute a workout that any serious practioner would want to perform in a gym-like setting. In fact, the author suggests you should try to do these exercises around mirrors (don't have a lot of those in my office); she also suggests you can do these things anywhere but helpfully adds that you should to try to avoid knocking into others as you do.

Even accepting that, the book's production is disappointing as well. It is virtually impossible to read and teach yourself the complex inhalation/exhalation and movement patterns while actually performing them. (I don't know why producers of these books don't bother to put a spiral binding on them so that at least it stays flat.) To teach yourself many of the positions while reading requires that the book be just far enough away from your body--especially with something holding the pages flat--as to be barely legible, creating a lot of interruption and frustration. There are simply not enough photographs, which are themselves often hard to "read," and many of the instructions and certain parts of the pre-exercise text seem to have certain logical gaps that make the text harder to follow than it could be.

All of the principles are for me incredibly compelling and worthwhile, and overlap beautifully with yoga. But this should be a well-produced DVD, and not a book. And other than the heightened awareness of posture that mat Pilates naturally creates, I found little other than a short discussion about seated posture that actually merits the "Wherever You Are" slant.

The instuctions were simply too complicated and hard to follow, you really NEED an instructor to do this kind of exercise, which explains why about 1/2 the book is a list of studios and teachers. I did not find this book helpful, I am very sorry to say.

I'm giving the book a thumbs up more because I like the Standing Pilates work than because the book is all that great. (In general, I'd rather watch a DVD to learn new exercises, but so far there isn't a decent DVD for Standing Pilates.) Nevertheless, it is well illustrated with numerous photographs that help explain the exercises. If possible, take a Standing Pilates class, then use the book as a reference and reminder of how to do the exercises.

As a teacher of classical and standing Pilates mat classes (beginners to advance) - my clients and students always ask for a great reference tool to continue their Pilates training at home and on their own. I recommend this book for the quality in illustrating, describing and adapting the cues according to ones level of expertise from beginners to experts. Also, this book does not require equipment and the standing Pilates does not require a mat which suits traveling lifestyles.
This in return supports my clients and students in progressing and moving forward with their training at an increase rate and level. Standing Pilates has been the missing element for advance Pilates students. Also, I applaud this book for its caring and concern for peoples health, in particular the section which focuses solely on Osteoporosis and How Pilates Can Help - it is extremely informative and helpful to woman of all ages and provides many insights that woman may not have been aware of.

This book is a breakthrough which I highly recommend!

Our pilates studio has been waiting patiently for this book to arrive....and it does not disappoint. Standing Pilates is a new form to most of us, especially to the layperson. This book does well to dispell the mystery, with great descriptions for the average practitioner to the advanced instructor. It brings new ideas to mind to practice the classic exercises and embraces the idea of weight-bearing exercises which are perfect for EVERYONE in their fight against gravity.
Bravo!

Standing Pilates is the next level of Pilates training and is essential for Pilates instructors and enthusiasts alike. The book is thorough and complete with tons of great photos and explanations. It goes way beyond most books in the depth of detail covered while still being easy to read and extremely helpful. The fun thing about Standing Pilates is that you don't need any other equipment or even a mat to do it. By doing the Standing Pilates you get to train in a way that carries over into daily life for increased transferance rate. You will definetly feel and see the difference in your body from this work. The exercises are all clearly explained with written instructions as well as several photos for each one. There are 3 levels for each exercise as well as modifications and variations given. You can then perfectly suit it to your level and body! It also gives you a description of what the goal of the exercise is and what you should think of while you are doing it. All very helpful to have in an exercise book. There is also a listing of instructors that are trained in these exercises so that if you want more feedback you know where to get it. Overall I highly recommend this book.

This is a nice variation on the standard Pilates how-to book. You can do these exercises anywhere, in a small space, without any equipment. Standing up makes them quite challenging. I'd recommend this to teachers too.

Standing Pilates is a fabulous resource for both the Pilates Trainer and Pilates client. There are clear descriptions of the movement sequences with excellent imagery, and observation cues for both the movement fundamentals that underlie and support all functional and expressive movement, as well as the classic mat and standing sequences. There are also clear levels of performance difficulty. I recommend this book for all the trainers I have worked with.

Difficult to follow, in some ways contrived, too neatly packaged and some of the photos are wrong and/or the models have horrible posture themselves. I wish I had the book on me to cite one. I have learned more about "standing pilates" from other sources and some of it is intriguing but all in all a little much, especially for the average pilates-class participant for whom the original mat work is challenging enough. It seems to be nothing but a catchy money maker but, then again, I can't see how they should make money on this one! Kind of sad, but also kind of irresponsible.

Has some good moves in there! I had no idea that Pilates could be done standing. Nice and convenient book!