Top Pilates Books for Home Practice
Alright, so you’re super excited about your Pilates practice and you want to nerd out. There are actually so many books that I would love for you to read, whether you’re a teacher or an enthusiast. We have books that will talk about the history, philosophy, exercises, inspiration, and so much more. Let’s dig into it
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Hi, I’m Lesley Logan, co-founder of onlinepilatesclasses.com. I’ve been doing Pilates since 2005 and teaching Pilates since 2008 and when I first fell in love with Pilates, I went to a bookstore and I went to the fitness section and I looked for any Pilates books that I could find. I bought them off, which was like two. Every time I went to a different book store, look and see, is there another book that I can have? And the truth is that back then, there wasn’t a ton of books out there. There are several now. There are some that it doesn’t matter if you want to be a teacher, you just want to understand Pilates better, they’re going to either itch your history, knowledge that you want to have, or they’re going to inspire you to move more. I personally love using these books to kind of get back into the head space of what Joseph Pilates was doing back then and why these exercises exist.
What is Pilates and Why Pilates Books?
Before we get into Pilates books and why you should read them. I do want to make sure we’re all on the same page about what Pilates is. So Pilates is a strength-based workout that’s designed to balance your imbalances. It can use body weight, such as exercise on the Mat, to having resistance exercises using the Reformer or Cadillac. It is a system. So it is not one thing. If you say you do reformer Pilates, I’m going to tell you do a part of the system. Reformer is actually just one part of an amazing system that Joe Pilates gave us. And who Joseph Pilates is, and when he created his method is actually so integral into what Pilates is, and why should we do it. So the books that are out there about Pilates, and some of them we’re going to discuss today, are really amazing. Because not only will they help us with what the philosophy is, Pilates is and what the history of Joe Pilates is, but also we’ll dive into some of the exercises. And so if you really want to nerd out about this, I highly recommend another video that we have called The Real Story Behind Joseph Pilates. It’s all this information that we have about Joe that I want you to have because it goes into the books you’re going to want to read, and also will help you understand if you’re reading a book that’s truly about Pilates, or if it’s just been inspired.
Books on Pilates History & Philosophy
There are so many different books out there, and today I want to cover some books on the inspiration and philosophy of Pilates, learning Pilates and the technique of Pilates. Want to talk about the business side of it, and I also want to talk about the history and other books that you might find fascinating. So one of the things that I think is important when you want to nerd out about Pilates, when you want to have a deeper Pilates practice is understanding a bit about Joe and what he felt Pilates was, and also the time of it, right? So The Caged Lion is towards the end of Joe’s life, but it has information on what John Steele knows about Joe’s life and a bit of history about him, of what we can find out. And I feel that this is really important for understanding why the exercises exist the way they do. Why I love the Contrology Handbook for philosophy is this, the first chapter alone is eye opening. It talks about what Pilates is and what Pilates isn’t, and in a way that helps you understand like if you have ever wondered, how is Pilates a workout? Is Pilates meditation? Is Pilates yoga? like, what is it? And really understanding what Joe passed on to Jay. And Jay was just always- Jay Grimes was always so… He emphasized so much how much we really need to understand Joe and the philosophy of the time, to really understand what Pilates is and how it’s meant to be in our bodies.
And before we move on, I want to give you one more book. This is actually a biography of Joseph Pilates by Cathy Strack. It’s called Get To Know Joe Pilates. And something I wanted to say is that I love that she calls him Joe Pilates. A lot of people like to call him Joseph Pilates. I’ll even say Joseph Pilates. It’s a very common thing to say, but he was Joe, and I think that that’s an important part of like getting to know him. There’s a lot of books out there where they quote and they look up things, and they kind of make things up based on what they think it could be. And this biography has lots of evidence about all the history, and Cathy Strack, the author, was able to really dive in and meet a lot of people and use a lot of libraries to source this. So I think it’s a great history book for you.
Books for Learning & Technique
Okay, let’s move on to the next section, learning the technique of Pilates. We’ve got a couple books here for you. The first one I want to talk about is Brooke Siler’s book, The Pilates Body. And this book came out in the year 2000 I found Pilates in 2005 so this is the first book that I bought. And I love Brooke. I got to meet her in person. She’s an incredible teacher. And if you use the book to understand the Mat exercises, I think you’ll find it to be super fun. It was literally how I trained myself Mat Pilates at home. And I think it’s really amazing. So I’d check that out. Also, we have Joseph Pilates books here for you. Yes, the man himself, Joe Pilates. So this particular book has both of his books. It has Return to Life and it has Your Health. For the purposes of your technique, the Return to Life book is awesome. It’s got literally how to do the exercises. And from Joe himself, an excellent guide to all of his original exercises, it’s really fun to go back. Some of these exercises have changed over the years by Joe Pilates himself, but he intended for these exercises to be done at home so you can do your Pilates wherever you go.
Pilates Professionals & Business Growth Books
Let’s talk about some books that have to do with being a Pilates professional and your business. We have a book here for you. And guess what? It’s mine! Profitable Pilates, Everything But the Exercises. I wrote this so that teachers from all walks of life could actually have a sustainable business doing what they love. When I became a teacher, I had business experience. That’s what I went to school for, and so I feel like I had a leg up to start my business. I had a lot of ways of growing my business quickly, and I found, when I started running studios, that so many teachers did not have enough information on how to make Pilates their career, their way of making money, so I wrote this book. The first couple of chapters are actually about how to choose a program, what it’s like to be a new teacher. And then all the other chapters are there for you, no matter how many years you’ve been teaching. There’s also information how to convert first time clients, how to niche. We also, when we re-released the book, there’s even QR codes that take you to blog posts if you want to dive in more, courses. So it’s a choose your own adventure business book for Pilates instructors. Here it is, and if you want it, click the link in the description to get a copy for yourself today.
Books for Inspiration & Deepening Your Practice
Alright, our last set of books that I want to talk about today are ones that can inspire and, you know, you can really nerd out about it. So the first one is the Archive Collection from Joseph H. Pilates. This one has pictures galore of Joe doing his work, his clients, doing the work, the designs of how the equipment is made. I really love going to this book. I really love. Joe was so cool about like, taking pictures of people on day one, and then four weeks later, and then 12 weeks later, and you can see their bodies just get stronger and stronger and their posture get better. So love this one for inspiring. Also, I don’t have this book in front of me to show you today, Voices of Classical Pilates by Peter Fiasca. It’s 28 different second-generation teachers who talk candidly about Pilates, and I think it’s really inspiring and really fun. And my teacher, Jay Grimes, was quoted in as well. And for those of you who are wanting your kiddos to do Pilates, Sage Does Pilates by Clarissa Shepherd is so fun. It’s a gift I’ve given to multiple of my friends who have kids, literally, they have a baby, and they get this book because it breaks the Mat exercises down in fun ways that makes kids want to do the movement. The pictures are gorgeous and so fun. And Clarissa did it after her daughter Sage, and it’s such a fun thing. Also, you can get that for your friends who have kids who want them to move more.
And finally, if you want any more inspiration and deepening your practice, may I suggest my amazing flashcards? Here’s why. One the colors just make you want to be inspired to move. And two, Jay always said you can’t really do Pilates just by being in your manual. You have to do Pilates to know Pilates. And these flashcards break down every exercise that Joe taught Jay and he taught me, and it helps you understand how to set them up, how to do them, how to transition to the next exercise, even how they’re related to other decks. So how a Cadillac exercise relates to a reformer exercise. And so what I hope you do is grab your own deck of flashcards at OPC Flashcards. We’ll have that link below, and we have five decks out right now, but soon we’ll have a sixth deck to complete all the exercises that Joe Pilates gave to us to move our bodies and to do life better.
Deepen Your Practice with OPC
Thank you so much for watching our videos. I truly appreciate you. I really would love to hear what of these books you have read, which is your favorite, and if you have a book that I’ve missed, please drop in the comments below. Maybe we’ll do another video bringing more books to everyone to understand and get to know Joe in a better way. If you have any questions about anything, put them in the comments below. We go live every single Sunday at 9am Pacific Time to answer your questions. But also, if you want to truly deepen your practice and move your body, I really hope you check out Online Pilates Classes we have accountability built into the programming. We give you feedback on your form. We have an incredible community, and we really, truly help you compare yourself to yourself and grow your Pilates practice. So go to OPC YouTube, thank you so much and have an amazing day.