The Pilates Body, Revised and Expanded Edition - by Brooke Siler (Paperback)

About the Book

Revised edition of: The Pilates body: the ultimate at home guide to strengthening, lengthening, and toning your body --without machines / Brooke Siler. 1st ed. New York: Broadway Books, c2000.

Book Synopsis

The definitive guide to mat-based Pilates from a renowned, celebrity trainer with more than three decades of experience--now with a new chapter of matwork-enhancing strategies and sixteen variations on classic exercises

Since its publication in 2000, The Pilates Body has helped hundreds of thousands readers around the world discover the power of Pilates. Originally developed in the early 1900s by Joseph H. Pilates, it remains the ultimate mind-body fitness system for anyone who wants to build strength, improve flexibility, perfect their posture, reduce aches and pains, and develop a deeper connection with their bodies.

In The Pilates Body, Brooke Siler, who trained under Joseph Pilates protégée Romana Kryzanowska, offers a comprehensive program of Pilates exercises that can be done anywhere and anytime with an exercise mat. Siler guides the reader through the principles that form the foundation of Pilates and offers directions for more than fifty exercises. The exercises, categorized by difficulty level, include:

• Step-by-step photos and instructions, line drawings, and unique visualizations to help you perform the proper movements with the right balance of breath and muscle activation
• Modifications for beginners, transitions between exercises to help you move fluidly through your practice, and progressions that keep you moving forward
• Troubleshooting tips for avoiding common pitfalls and injury as well as guides for maximizing your results

In this revised and expanded edition, you will find more progressions, variations, and updated cues throughout the exercises. You will also learn how to deepen your Pilates practice in an exciting-new chapter that explores the strengthening and lengthening benefits of incorporating pandiculation--the contraction and relaxation of muscles to discharge muscular tension and foster mobility. Siler explains pandiculation's essential role in your neuromuscular health and how it unlocks more of Pilates's benefits, while offering instructions for pandiculated versions of sixteen matwork exercises to revitalize your body and your practice.

Through its warm, concise approach and creative, detailed visuals, The Pilates Body will help you master a movement system that enhances your physical and emotional well-being, no matter your skill level, age, or fitness level.

Review Quotes

"Brooke Siler gave me the best workout I've ever had in my life!"--Kirsten Dunst

"Brooke is extremely knowledgeable about using Pilates as a tool to increase muscle strength and improve life energy and vitality. I love Brooke!"--Amber Valletta

"All trainers feel committed to their clients. However, few give the dedication of a coach. Brooke is a trainer who is a coach. She pushes me to realize my potential and believes in my ability more than I do."--Trudi Tapscott, model editor, Vogue

About the Author

Brooke Siler began her Pilates training in 1994 under Joseph Pilates' protégée, Romana Kryzanowska, where she spent a decade studying under Romana's masterful tutelage before opening her award-winning Manhattan studio, re: AB Pilates, in 1997. Brooke was quickly embraced by Hollywood's A-list, from Madonna to Dustin Hoffman, and her reputation as one of the leading voices in Pilates was firmly established.

However, Brooke is probably best known for penning the New York Times best-seller The Pilates Body, which has become the top-selling Pilates book of all time. In 2025, the revised and expanded second edition of The Pilates Body was released, reaffirming her influence and expertise. Brooke's other titles include Your Ultimate Pilates Body Challenge and The Women's Health Big Book of Pilates. In 2021, she also launched her passion-product, The Tensatoner(TM), a fitness teaching tool inspired by two of Joe Pilates' lost apparatus.

Since moving to the UK in 2015, Brooke has continued to teach classes, courses, and conferences worldwide. She has remained at the forefront of the Pilates community for over 30 years because she continues to be fiercely passionate, purposeful, and authentic in both her person and her work.