Pilates Scene

Now and again, it’s good to read about and ponder the side of our teaching that comes from inside us, our drive, our strengths/weaknesses and the balance we seek in life.

Survival Skills For Pilates Teachers: Thriving In The Mind-body Fitness World
This book comes highly recommended (Thanks Lara and Maria) and I am looking forward to getting my teeth into it one day. If anyone has an old copy, or knows where I can buy it here, love to hear from you.

Continue reading…

Pilates Anatomy
Dr Abby Elsworth

Pictorial description of which muscles are used in which exercise. Perfect for trainees or newer teachers and only $12.99 at your local Post Office, of all places.

Ageless Pilates
Christine Binnendyk

One of the best instructional Pilates books I have read. Christine has put a lot of thought into the flow of the book, including body geometry tips, description of anchor points and illegal movement alerts. The descriptions are simple, and clear and the page layout is such that your eye is drawn to the important pieces of information.

Excellent book by Mary Bond, The New Rules of Posture, comes to life here in a 10 minute video demonstration. Continue reading…

The Female Pelvis Anatomy and Exercises by Blandine Calais-Germain.

I have a bedside table full of Pilates books, this one is fantastic.

The drawings are multi dimensional, the exercises are realistic and her content is useful and very relevant to the work we do. Best Pelvis book I have seen. Pgs 14-25 must read.

Centerworks.com sells a number of Pilates resources including mp3′s and downloadable e-books in pdf form. No postage, no waiting, just download and voila, there it is.

When looking to buy books online, start at Booko.com

At 366 pages this book is a hefty read, but boy is it thorough, starting with protocols for using resistive bands and for us non sailors, knot tying techniques are included. Continue reading…

We had the pleasure of meeting Francine this weekend at a workshop on back and hip stability. We played around with real time ultrasound for TA, PF and quad fem, glut med and min. Needless to say, it was really interesting and very useful in terms of application of hip exercises in the Pilates context. Continue reading…

Stott Pilates Breast Cancer Rehab DVD
Review by Fiona Eakin

Let me be clear from the outset: I love Stott Pilates. As an instructor and breast cancer patient I had great expectations from this DVD. I was sorely disappointed. I underwent breast cancer surgery in late 2008. I had a mastectomy and also lost all my axillary lymph nodes. Continue reading…

The ongoing issue – are ab exercises hurting your back? Continue reading…