Book Review: Pilates Illustrated by Portia Page

Pilates Illustrated presents exactly what the name says – an illustrated guide to mat and small apparatus Pilates exercises. The first chapter is a brief description of the history of Pilates and introduction of when and how to practice. The next six chapters consist of mat exercises divided according to their start position (i.e supine, prone, kneeling etc…). The following three chapters are for exercises with swiss balls, therabands and magic circles and the final chapter is a series of routines from beginner to advanced with different emphasis such as lower body strength or evening relaxation class.

Each of the exercises have clear pictures of the exercise and some have pictures of variations. The models are all clearly Pilates devotees and show the exercises to a very high standard. Next to the pictures are clear cues and instructions for the exercises. There are details of the level of the exercise, contraindications, focus points and benefits of the exercises described. Page’s depth of knowledge is very evident with her ability to summarise detailed information into a concise form.

The strength of this book lies in its pictures – they capture the essence of the exercises so clearly that an experienced teacher would only need to glance at the pictures to refresh an exercise.

I would recommend this book onto the shelf of any Pilates Instructor of any level of training. The beginner teachers will benefit from the precision and simplicity of the information being presented and the more advanced teacher will benefit from reading the cues that Page uses and refreshing small apparatus repertoire. The exercises are presented in a contemporary order and variations, however the detail in the cueing will make this a valuable tool for the classical teachers too.  Overall, I was very impressed with this book and it will have a very welcome place in my bookshelf as a reference book for the duration of my career.

Jeremy Hunt

PAA Member Trainer L1

Books for review are kindly supplied by Human Kinetics. All PAA members may claim up to 25% discount on books from Human Kinetics.

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