Product Description

If you want to get a toned, strong body and graceful posture but don’t have the time, find out how following this Pilates book and DVD set. Forget gyms, expensive kit, and hours of punishing fitness regimes; try these easy-to-follow 15 minute Pilates routines and get your body tip top in no time. Clear at-a-glance fold-out pages show you exactly what to do and the live action 60 minute DVD demonstrates each of the four key exercises so you can master techniques. A total fitness package – exercising at home has never been easier or quicker! Created in collaboration with the popular boutique chain Sweaty Betty, with a foreword from its founder Tamara Hill-Norton.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #70715 in Books
• Published on: 2008-01-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 96 pages

About the Author
Alycea Ungaro is a licensed physical therapist and runs the Real Pilates Studio in New York City. Her mantra, "Making Pilates available for Everyone", has led her to create products for cell phones and iPods, and even to collaborate with Puma to create a special Pilates shoe. Alycea is the author of DK’s Pilates: Body in Motion (2002) and The Pilates Promise (2004). She lives in the USA.

Customer Reviews

A Triumph!
Everything about this book is great. For a start, the presentation is really good - from the smooth cover to the well-designed page layouts and clear photographs demonstrating the exercises. The pages that 'fold out' to show each of the four workouts are also very helpful. Perhaps most importantly, the exercises are all explained in detail and each stage is described in a simple yet effective way. Overall, it just feels like a lot of effort went into every aspect of the book to make it user friendly.

The DVD is the perfect complement to the book. I didn't realise that you could move from one exercise to another so quickly and without the DVD I would have been going at a much slower speed. I was also amazed by the variety of exercises crammed into each of the 4 workouts! The time goes by really quickly because you are never just standing about waiting for the next exercise to start, you are always either doing an exercise or transitioning into the next. I really have to praise the author, Alycea Ungaro, for the wonderful way that she voices over the DVD. Her instructions are simple and her tone of voice is very pleasant and calm. She makes the whole thing a real pleasure to do and makes me feel very motivated.

As a complete Pilates beginnner, I found the workouts quite tough. I was able to follow the moves most of the time, but sometimes I couldn't do all the repetitions or get myself into exactly the right position. But nevermind, this will obviously come with practice! By the end of each of the 15 mins I often have sweat breaking out on my forehead and my muscles feel like they have had a good workout. I like the way you can do just one 15 minute section or combine them. I like to do the 'Day by Day' section followed by one of the other 3 sections (I alternate them each time) for a good 30 minute routine.

Overall, I highly recommend this product. It has a very slick and professional feel and is very efficient in terms of fitting a lot of exercise into a short period of time.

Pilates Everyday - but not for beginners.
This was my first exercise DVD. It was so good, and is providing me with ideal core strengthening moves, that I'm in the process of buying more ready to build on my progress.

The book is very very good. Check it out in real book shop. The DVD adds the icing on the cake. I think this package is extremely good for non-beginners and people without back problems, who are able to judge their own limitations, eg they know how far they can bend their knees while standing. Perhaps they are bored with the slow pace of their class and want to develop sequences for themselves.

The missing star is because I've done some Pilates lessons and a good teacher will spend ages explaining the anatomy, physiology, breathing, exact positions and even the mental imagery you need in long slow sessions before you learn a routine. The danger of a book and DVD is you skip the book and go straight to the DVD. If you do that you won't get the full benefit of these brilliantly conceived exercises and you might even hurt your back.

So it's not as good as a classes, well obviously, but they should have said it's not for beginners, and they shouldn't have put the 100s exercise 2nd in the basic daily routine - it's definitely not for people who haven't yet worked on their back strength - and finally they really should have at least mentioned that some sort of cool down is necessary. I can't even find that mentioned even in the book.