The Pilates Edge: An Athlete's Guide to Strength and Performance

I am not an athlete, but I found this book very useful. I'd ignored it for a few years but recently acquired it. It goes through just about every Pilates mat exercise that I have ever come across (most other manuals omit at least a few of them) and explains the purpose of the exercise (something many manuals neglect to do). They also include an extensive listing of the Wall Series, the Standing Series and a variety of Reformer on the Mat exercises as well as some other hard-to-categorize exercises that usually show up at the end of some practices, like Bent Knee Lifts and Jumps (which, by the way, look very much like the later developed Lotte Berk Method warmups). This is an excellent reference for the general Pilates practitioner, but athletes will also be able to utilize this. For each sport, they list common injuries and targeted muscles, then prescribe usually two workouts and the schedule that should be followed on the off-season and training season. Obviously, nothing replaces a one-on-one discussion with a knowledgable Pilates instructor, but this should be useful for those who don't have access to one. Sports included are Swimming, Running, Skiing, Tennis and a few others I don't recall off the top of my head. This was a great concept that was very well-executed. Given the level of knowledge and expertise, I'd love to see these authors come out with a similar book addressing common injuries and/or postural problems. Excellent resource for athletes, Pilates students and Pilates instructors.

I was pleased to finally find this book a few years ago, as I was looking for a way to help with my fencing. As a book geared towards athletes, it assumes that you don't simply want to "look and feel fit", but build a real core that helps you become a stronger athlete, no matter what your sport. I appreciated that the illustrations of the exercises (which are very well done) featured both authors, drving home the idea that Pilates is a fitness regimen for BOTH men and women who want to be stronger. Too many times books about exercise systems focus on one gender, which can turn people off... I often felt that Pilates suffered from being marketed too strongly towards women when it is a very universal exercise system. I also very much liked that the core exercises (there are many) were ones that did not require any extra equipment, relying on your own body weight and range of motion to accomplish the movement. The sample exercise programs at the rear of the book emphasize this. Other sections of the book that include weights, bars, etc. are considered as supplemental to the core system and can be added as needed. Personally, this helped me to stay with the exercises, because I didn't need to have anything with me to do them. An excellent book. I highly recommend it.

This book is great for anyone who is interested in Pilates. If you do other sports, like biking, running or golf, it gives you appropriate excercises to compliment your activities. It provides outstanding descriptions and pictures of the exercises.Highly recommend this book...even if you just want a Pilates book with pictures.....

As a cyclist and runner, I never before thought that I could benefit from Pilates. This book definitely changed that, and I recommend it to both serious athletes and anyone looking to improve their endurance and well-being. The stretches are great, and the pictures are easy to follow.

A lot of exercise books are difficult to use for an actual workout. This book solves that problem with detailed descriptions for each move and later a purely visual guide that shows thumbnails of each pose. I'm not an "athelete", but I like to workout and wanted to start pilates to help with those aches and pains I get from the gym. This book is going to make it easy to get a pilates workout in a few times a week.This book is incredibly well written, clear and concise. It gives great tips for those who do engage in the major sports featured (tennis, golf, skiing, running, etc.). Highly recommended!