The Pilates Powerhouse

Rating:
Summary: Three is a Charm
Review: "If you honor the spiritual and scientific basis of this technique, and give over all your concentration and incorporate the fluidity of movement, youi will possess all the keys to bring "Quality" to this method and experience the profound benefits Pilates offers." -Mari Winsor

Mari Winsor enjoys helping people transform their bodies and for those of us who are just discovering the benefits and FINALLY seeing some results, we are especially excited about the fact that Mari has organized a program for us to help us transform our bodies.

Maybe these types of exercises are just addictive because you really can see results. These exercises also provide a quiet place where you can just be by yourself and nurture yourself. In a way, they are like Yoga where you have time to yourself just
to reflect and move in the moment.

You need three items to fully appreciate Winsor Pilates:

The Pilates Powerhouse book
The Winsor Pilates Body Sculpting Program
The Pilates Workout Journal

This book is probably best purchased along with the Winsor Pilates Body Sculpting Program and Pilates Workout Journal. To find the Body Sculpting program, link over to the drugstore.com area that is connected with Amazon. For some reason, I can't get
the program to list when searching for Mari Winsor at Amazon.

I would like to see this book in a "spiral bound" version because you will want to be able to keep the pages open. This is a book you want to use, not just read once. I would also like to find a Pilates wall chart. No luck so far.

The exercises in this book are all in Mari's Body Sculpting program. To do these exercises correctly, I find it is essential to watch the videos first. Then, you can use this book to remind yourself of the exercises while doing other fun things like watching movies. The journal is also useful as it has a beginner to advance routine and you can follow the lists.

I've thought about cutting out all the pictures in the book and pasting them onto note cards and placing them on a key ring so I can have the exercises all in a row. This might be what I resort to if I can't find a chart.

The reason I personally love this method of exercising is because I can do the exercises while watching TV or a movie.

This book is going to tell you all the basics you need to know. The explanations do go into more depth than even on the videos. Yet, I think to appreciate the program, it is best to watch the videos first.

Contents:

Introduction: Find out who Joseph Pilates was and why he was a revolutionary force in the world of fitness.

Part One: The Power of Pilates

1. The Joy of Movement - What are the benefits? These are rather convincing. If you are stressed out by other routines, these exercises provide a loving, nurturing environment in which your body can change. You feel that you are really caring for yourself.

2. Principles of Understanding - Learn about breathing, relaxation, concentration, control, fluidity, strength, flexibility, freedom and control. There is a certain joy in the opposites presented in these exercises. You stretch and tone. You relax and work out. There is a certain balance you achieve through each routine.

3. The Powerhouse - The secret and essential ingredient. I didn't really understand fully what this was until reading this book. There is not enough time on the videos to go into depth. That is why this book is essential!

Part Two: Doing It

4. Before You Begin - More motivation and pep talk from Mari. I love her style. I love the way she can convince me to get down on the floor and work out. What a woman!

5. Pilates Mat Work - These are the exercises. A full list of 41 ways to firm, tone and stretch. All the exercises are shown with complete detailed explanations. Most have a "prep, ready and action" area. Some only need a "ready and action." The instructions are easy-to-understand, but to fully understand them, I again recommend the videos. So worth the price.

Part Three: Injuries and Injury Prevention

6. Defying Defeat- If you have been injured and are in pain, Pilates might be the perfect remedy for healing and diminishing chronic pain. I know it has helped my back and my entire body feels stronger.

7. Neck Injuries - Neck stretches you can do to alleviate pain. When first doing these exercises, you will notice some tension in your shoulders and neck, but that quickly subsides as you build up muscles to support your head. There are also variations so you don't have to lift your head as much when doing the exercises. Of course, you want to work to that level.

8. Lower Back Pain - Stretches and modifications. "Rolling Down the Wall" is a fun exercise to stretch out your lower back.

9. Asthma - interesting to have included this in the book. But asthma is actually very common. Breathing through your nose is what Mari recommends. I've heard that cold air on the back of the throat can actually aggravate Asthma. Exercise induced Asthma is a reality.

10. Beyond the Mat - Look for a Pilates studio. The equipment can help give you a deeper stretch and added resistance. In this section, it would have been nice to see the exercise machines. She gives a toll-free number so you can call and find a studio in your area.

Like Yoga, Pilates is really a way of life for many. You can add this type of program to a walking program and see added benefits. I like this better than Yoga, because there are still some pretty intense moves in Yoga that will take me years to perfect. With Pilates, you feel almost proficient from the start. None of the exercises are "too difficult" or "impossible."

A Balanced approach to Life and Exercise.

Rating:
Summary: The Pilates Powerhouse
Review: After taking two pilates mat classes, I decided to get a book to see other exercises and to help me practice at home. The book is very helpful to me. But I can understand how someone who has never had a class would feel the exercises are difficult to do based on the pictures without a live instructor. The exercises are in order of body area. And the dots tell beginners where to start and how to continue to build up your pilates routine. The challenge of a book is that no one shows you what your powerhouse is and how to rotate your "clock" - this is an important element to pilates. It is the powerhouse.

Rating:
Summary: For those with exposure to Pilates already
Review: Compared to a previous Pilates book I read, I noticed that a few of the basic guidelines in lying down so that your powerhouse can be fully utilized are missing in this book. So I just used this know-how in carrying on with the exercises illustrated in this book, which produced good results (i.e., flatter tummy the very next day). Now I just don't know if the missing steps in this book which I knew beforehand made the difference or not.

Perhaps a library binding edition might be called for so that it would be easier to handle the book when one's exercising. And finally I wonder why the exercises were not arranged from easy to difficult, so that the beginner and expert for that matter, can see which steps one should do.

With all these, one may expect me to give a rating not higher than 2, but since the book helped achieve my goal (a flat tummy and slimmer limbs and behind) I'm giving this a 3, missing steps or no missing steps. To be on the safe side, if you're a beginner in Pilates, better find another book. This one's for those with some Pilates experience already.

Rating:
Summary: Great with some basic knowledge
Review: Having gone for one Pilates class, I understand the basics of the neutral spine and breathing. This book does not teach you in detail how to breath laterally. Hence it is not suitable for a first-timer with no previous experience at all.

This book emphasises on the various movements that can form a routine. Readers with some Pilates experience should be able to follow.

There are chapters on injuries and prevention, with simple neck stretching exercises other than Pilates movements.

I feel that this book gives the reader lots of encouragement. It tells you the numerous benefits of Pilates. I tried a routine last night, and woke up feeling light and comfortable. Can't wait to carry on with the workout tonight.

If only this book were spiral-bound and able to stand open on its own. If a detailed chapter on breathing and finding the neutral spine were added, this book deserves a 5/5.

Rating:
Summary: Good Book
Review: I am new to Pilates. I'm going into my second week of actually working out with Mari Winsor's Body Sculpting System (from infomercial) and I truly love it. I finally bought this book Friday and finished it Saturday. I was pleased with the history and background she gives you. I would not want this to be my only source for actually performing the routine (because I'm just not good at following along like that) and she even tells you that. All in all I think it's a great source of information. I know I will continue to refer back to it.

Rating:
Summary: Good Reference
Review: I bought the Pilates videos and I've enjoyed them. This book is a useful tool for understanding the method behind the moves. It is written clearly, explaining parts of the movements most people would not think to consider when starting any exercise program. I was glad to see her point out that these moves should be done to the comfort level of the individual, stressing the importance of injury prevention. Included is a complete part on stretches/ exercises for dealing with soreness in different areas of the body.
However, it helps to have some knowledge of kinesthetics or dance, as Pilates is about mental awareness of the body.

Rating:
Summary: Great book!!!!!
Review: I thought this book was great. My daughter had given me Mari's videos as a Christmas present. I was doing the videos and it was going pretty well, but when I purchased the book and gained the insight of the Pilates method, it all became more clear and addicting. I would reccommend her book and videos to anyone!

Rating:
Summary: exercise memory!
Review: The detailed instructions on each exercise are extremely helpful for those of us who are "word" people, but it is probably most useful as an accompaniment to a video or to working with a certified instructor in a studio. I am doing both of those and found this helpful, but if one were clueless you might not "get it" just from the book.

By the way, one reviewer asked why the exercises aren't listed separately by level of skill required. The answer is that in the Pilates method the sequence of exercises is considered extremely important AND when you are more advanced you continue to do the more basic exercises (sometimes with more difficult positioning of legs, arms or body.)



Rating:
Summary: More detail, please . . .
Review: There's no question that Mari Winsor is an expert on Pilates. The problem is that her book doesn't explain enough of the nitty gritty details of Pilates to make it a clear guide for someone who knows nothing about it. And the fact that she runs a thriving business teaching Hollywood types is not as important to me as her ability to teach the average person with no Pilates experience from the pages of a book.

I bought "The Pilates Powerhouse" because I was curious about Pilates, and I happened to find it on sale for...at a discount bookstore. I read all the enthusiastically written preliminary chapters, which really whetted my appetite. But when I got into the exercises themselves I got frustrated. At first glance, it appears that Winsor explains each exercise in detail. But when you get down on the floor and try to follow the directions, questions arise. She needs more illustrative photos. She needs to say more than "repeat six times". Repeat from what point? From the prep or from the action phase? Winsor stresses that the exercises must be done precisely, but her directions are rather imprecise. And the powerhouse, which she points to as the most important element of Pilates, is explained in general terms, but exactly what you're supposed to do with it during an exercise is not.

She claims the Pilates routine will take less than an hour out of your day, but lists three categories of exercises (beginning, intermediate, advanced), suggesting that eventually, you'll be doing all the exercises in all three categories (All 50 exercises? In an hour??!! I think not!) Also, she doesn't explain how fast the exercises should be done. Is it at the speed of hatha yoga? Or calisthenics? Or somewhere in between?

Despite the shortcomings of the book, I still want to learn Pilates, and I will persevere. Ms. Winsor and Mr. Laska, if you're reading this, and you decide to come out with another edition of your book, please take the above constructive criticism into consideration.

Rating:
Summary: Better to get the DVD and see how this is done
Review: This book contains black-and-white photographs to demonstrate how to use the Pilates system pf exercise at home, Pilates really only requires a met, and a few props such as a stick and one of those exercise balls. The exercises rely on the "powerhouse" or the abdominal muscles, truly the center of one's balance and required for every activity from holding one's back upright to walking.

However, the small movements using the legs and arms that are typical of Pilates (which takes less than an hour a day and is reputed to produce dancer-style elongated muscules) are best demonstrated by a video or DVD. So if you are serious about doing Pilates and don't have a studio to attend, combine this book with a DVD to get better instruction. On its own, this is probably not sufficient for a beginner, though the experienced would enjoy reading it.