Free Pilates Exercises

From LoveToKnow Exercise

There are many different places you can find free Pilates exercises to try out in the comfort of your home. While using the Internet, books from the library and rented videos can't replace occasional lessons from a person, these free resources can let you know if you like the exercise and whether you want to continue your training by taking in-person lessons.

Free Pilates Exercises Online

Probably the most popular place to find free Pilates exercises is online. And why not? The Internet is available all the time, and you can always look up new moves if the instructional video that came with your Pilates kit isn't enjoyable or challenging anymore.

Here are just a few of the many websites available that provide Pilates exercises:

Easy Vigour is a New Zealand site with pictures and instructions for more than 75 Pilates exercises. It starts out with 10 basic introductory exercises including how to stand tall and breathe properly, making this a great destination for beginners.
My Fit has a smaller but still good database of Pilates exercises, complete with pictures that rotate to illustrate the different parts of the pose. This can be a little distracting and there's no way to pause it, but they're still fun to look at.
Jillian Hessel is a Pilates instructor in Los Angeles, and her site includes a couple of exercises, links to articles about Pilates and video clips from her DVDs, as well as a brief video of Joseph Pilates doing twists.

Pilates at Your Library

You might be surprised at the number of free Pilates exercises you have access to at your local library. Many libraries recognize that people are looking for information on workouts, particularly Pilates and yoga, and they are providing more and more instructional books, videos and DVDs for their patrons to use.

Even if your library isn't that well-stocked, you should be able to use inter-library loan to get specific books or videos you are interested in.

While you can certainly just go to the library and browse the selection, here are a few books you might want to look for:

The Pilates Body by Brooke Siler
Pilates by Rael Isacowitz
The Complete Book of Pilates for Men by Daniel Lyon
Pilates: Body in Motion or 15 Minute Everyday Pilates by Alycea Ungaro
A Pilates Primer: The Millennium Edition by Joseph Pilates and Judd Robbins

There's also a 15 Minute Everyday Pilates DVD you might want to look for, or any DVDs by Winsor Pilates or Gaiam are also good choices.

Using Books and DVDs

You might not think that a book or video is going to be that useful to you when you just have to give it back in a couple of weeks, but this is a great way to get free Pilates exercises and to keep your workout from getting too boring.

When you buy books or DVDs, you tend to do the same exercises over and over, which makes them less challenging. It may even make your exercise experience boring (by the time you know all the words the presenter is going to say before she or he says them), which can keep you from exercising as often as you should.

Knowing that you're only going to have that particular workout for a couple of weeks keeps it fun. If there's a tape or book that you find you're really enjoying and that you'd like to keep doing, you can always buy it and keep it on hand for times when you don't have any other workouts to do.

Books, DVDs and websites can all provide ideas for workouts inside your home as well as for stretching you might do at the gym or when you have access to a Pilates reformer. Working with different books and websites gives you an idea of how different people work through the poses, which may give you insight into how to better your practice as well.

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