Customer Reviews

Strength Training on the Ball: A Pilates Approach to Optimal Strength and Balance

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4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is Colleen's third "on the ball" book, and it just keeps getting better. When one hears the words "strength training", the words usually implied are "for atheletes". Colleen certainly covers challenging exercises, but she also includes chapters for rehabilitation, seniors, and one for children. What a delight! Besides the Swiss Ball, Colleen also uses stretch bands, small hand weights, and the small dynaball in the routines. The exercises using the swiss ball and dynaball simultaneously are quite challenging; they allow one to extend the concept of "core stability" to the deep muscle lines in our arms and legs.

One particularly striking exercise: on p. 124, Colleen is doing a one-armed rowing motion while prone on the Swiss Ball. The non-rowing arm is balancing by holding onto a dynaball. Study that left arm! The dynaball completely alters the quality of the exercise; it makes the one-arm exercise supremely challenging for the entire upper body and both arms. Colleen herself is the model for these hand-weight exercises; the lines of her body simultaneously demonstrate fantastic strength and amazing relaxation/suppleness in her superficial muscle lines.

When Colleen's "Pilates on the Ball" first came out, there were virtually no titles of "ball" exercises. Now, there are literally dozens of titles. The bad news for those other authors: Colleen is the definitive expert in this field, and she continues her path of innovation with this book.

If you want to improve your strength, get this book. If you want to improve your flexibility or rehab from an injury, get this book. If you have children or parents who want to maintain/improve their strength/flexibility/fun, get this book. The Swiss Ball is no passing fad, and this book will show why.

I own all of Colleen's books and they just keep getting better and better. I ride horses and I was looking for a workout that would inprove my balance and help me to be more aware of what my body was doing. The best part of working out on a ball is that if you make a mistake the ball moves so you KNOW that you are doing something wrong! I recommend this book for eveyone!

This book is not great. There is a lot of useless fluff at the beginning of each chapter, when the author tells a long, very boring story (ie: an October day on a train) that is not conducive to building core strength. The pictures are in black & white, and there are not as many great exercises compared to other books. With this book, you'll probably spend all your time reading rather than doing exercises. This book is not direct or to the point, resulting in many pages that again, you'll have to read to find maybe one key point.

The lessons in this book are extremely advanced. If you do Pilates, and enjoy it, this is for you. This is NOT A BOOK FOR A BEGINNER.

The tone of this book is so preachy and condescending that I can't seem to get to the exercises themselves. Each chapter begins with a several-page story about a person whose life was turned around their work with the author on Pilates. Then there are several long pages of essays, with lots of quotations and name-dropping and helpful self-improvement tips like "every day you will need to restart" and "one becomes old when fixities of habits are established."

I am sure that there are subtleties about the approach that need to be conveyed. However, I would prefer to use a book with a more direct writing style so I can get the information I need quickly and get on with my workout.

As a Pro Trainer, there are only 2 fitness pros whose books & DVDs I approve of for my wife to use at home.

Mine and Colleens!

All of her stuff is good - you can get alot of good ideas from this one - check it out.

Joey Atlas - The Wizard of Fitness
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