Physiotherapy June 2001/vol 87/no 6

331Book reviews

Michael Joseph, London2000 (ISBN 0 718 14423 6). Illus. 176 pages.

by Brooke Siler £12.99 It is refreshing to be asked to review a book on Pilates thatgives full credit to the work of Joseph Hubertus Pilateshimself. For those of you who have only encountered Pilatesas the commercial offerings in fitness videos, your gym or onthe back of your cereal packet -- this new book is trulydescended from the original work and has an enviablepedigree. However, in its faithfulness to the original, much of the exercise material is more aspirational andinspirational, and not fully accessible to the averagephysiotherapy client.

This book covers the entire matwork series of JosephPilates, plus standing, advanced and cool-down exercises.Each exercise is clearly presented, over a full double page,describing the movement sequence step by step.Communication of the Pilates mind-body concept is greatlyenhanced by the visualisation prompts, diagrams andexcellent photography.

Those readers who are already familiar with a musclebalance approach to injury management will recognise thecore stabilisation principles that lie central to the Pilatesmethod. The real success of using Pilates as part of aphysiotherapy rehabilitation programme is in stimulatingvisualisation and connection to the hard-to-access posturalmuscles.

In reviewing this book I enlisted the help of several of mypatients while they were recovering from back, knee andshoulder problems. I invariably introduce segmental spinalstabilisation training (Richardson et al, 1999) to my patients

at an early stage of their rehabilitation, often under the guiseof remedial Pilates. The early chapters of this book wereuniversally well received by my patients. The description ofthe Pilates mind-body philosophy and the highlighting offailings in the gym-based 1980s style of ‘no gain withoutpain’ exercise were often deemed worth the cover pricealone.

However, from a physiotherapy perspective even the veryfirst exercise in the ‘modified beginner’ section is beyondthe reach of any individual with dysfunctional lumbarextension control. This is not, therefore, a book torecommend indiscrimmately without first being fullyfamiliar with its excellent content.

Overall, this is an excellent and well presented book, arecommended text on the Pilates Foundation teachertraining course. But prescribe with care and try Pilates onyour own body first!

John Stephenson MSc MCSP MMACP

The Pilates Body

The ultimate at-home guide tostrengthening, lengthening and toningyour body – Without machines

Rolling like a ball – a beginner’s exercise in ‘The Pilates Body’. Thesketch is accompanied by four sequential photographs of a youngwoman performing the movements on a mat. A suggested addedchallenge is ‘Try placing your head between your knees andwrapping your arms around your legs’

Wiley, Chichester1999 (ISBN 0 471 560 19 7). 306 pages

edited by Stephen J Bull £24.95This book addresses the important issue of exerciseadherence, in both sport and healthcare settings. Its statedintention is to target all those interested in the theory andpracticalities of adherence issues in sport and rehabilitationexercise. As such, it aims to reach a varied readership; it iswritten in accessible language, avoiding excessive use ofjargon, and provides extensive references for those who wishto pursue the chapter topics in greater depth.

The book is logically organised, moving from theoreticalpsychosocial concepts to issues surrounding exerciseadherence in a variety of health and sport contexts, andfinally to exploring the potential for different approaches inthe study of adherence.

The first two chapters examine psychosocial issues,considering social influences on exercise involvement(chapter 1) and the transtheoretical model of behaviourchange, applying evidence from previous research on use of the model to its potential as a framework to deliverinterventions to promote regular exercise (chapter 2).

The next two chapters examine adherence to exercise inprimary healthcare, and in a variety of clinical populations.The former chapter explores the extent to which exercisepromotion occurs in primary healthcare settings, and it

Adherence Issues in Sport and Exercise