Pilates' Return to Life Through Contrology

Not for the Beginner   January 28, 2002

If you are looking to get started with Pilates excercises don't buy this book. You can buy two or three of the others for the same price.


Where it all started   December 14, 2001
  19 out of 21 found this review helpful

I am a Pilates instructor so I found the book immensely helpful in understanding the origins of the Method. I would, however, only recommend this book for an instructor or a serious student of Pilates as it is not an easy read. If someone is looking for a glossy, modern guide to Pilates, this is not the book. It amazed me that so many of the techniques he advocated so many years ago are so effective today. Both the vintage pictures and the text fascinated me! Again, this is an excellent book for people who really want to know and understand pure, unadultered Pilates.


Return To Life through Contrology   October 27, 2000
  13 out of 13 found this review helpful

I find this book very informative, not only historically but medically. As a nurse it's interesting to see what techniques are applicable to today and which we now know may not be safe. It's also interesting to see how Joe's original descriptions of his exercises have changed over the years, according to who is doing the teaching. I feel it was really overpriced for it's size, but for me worth it.


Good supplement to instruction as you advance   June 4, 1999
  139 out of 142 found this review helpful

Having studied Pilates(R) for some time and gone through many of the phases of body change and self discovery that the system provides. The book is a reproduction of a relic originally published in 45 under the title "Return to Life Through Contrology." Contrology was the original name that Joseph Pilates gave to his system of exercise. The (R) marks and the PILATES name spattered everywhere is a result of the recent surge and push to mass market the system for profit. This book takes the reader, who simply must be a Pilates student to benefit, back to a more pure time, where Joseph Pilates' ideals grew, not out of a need for copyright symbols, but by a simple desire to understand the human body and to perfect it (beginners should seek out one of the more recently published books to get a better idea of its modern application). This book takes many reads to fully absorb. After reading this book, I discussed it with my instructor, Atasha Avery in Seattle. I understand how she works better because of the book. I now understand her subtle corrections and statements more (whereas before I knew they worked seemingly by magic as she and Pilates(R) transformed my body from flabby and inflexible to somebody who for the first time in my life is free of back pain and comfortable enough with my body to show it off more) and am more able to help her help me. I would definitely not replace Atasha with this book, or with any other instructor for that matter (in my opinion she is a model of the ideals that Joseph Pilates expounds on in his book and is by far the most qualified instructor I have ever worked with. For inspiration, however it is great. The pictures in this book are originals of Joseph Pilates. Although they are not very clearly printed, and should not serve as a guide to performance of the exercises (the best book for this purpose is "Pilates Method of Physical and Mental Conditioning" by Philip Friedman and Gail Eisen), they are a part of Pilates history. If you are serious about starting Pilates and just have to click on a book to buy, click first on Sean Gallegar's book. Then, spend your money on a qualified instructor like Atasha... if you still want more as you advance with your instructor, then by all means buy this book. I give it 5 start because of its historical value. If I were to rate the quality of the publishing separately, it would only rate 1 star. You can't tell from the picture, but this is also a very thin volume, so don't be disappointed if you were expecting an encyclopedia. Good luck, and remember, Pilates is Fitness That Works.


Not what I thought!   March 24, 1999
  38 out of 44 found this review helpful

I've been doing Pilates sessions now for a year and bought this because it is written by Joseph H. Pilates who developed the system. I've enjoyed the other one or two books on Pilates around at the moment but thought this might give a new insight. I just could not get into this book and, strange to say, found it not to be at all relevant for someone like myself who enjoys Pilates as a form of exercise. It is not an easy read and this is not helped by the surprisingly poor quality of the book as a whole - poor b&w reproduction. I can see that this might give some useful background for Pilates teachers but don't believe it adds anything for the 'layperson'. Have I missed the plot or does anyone else out there share this view?