cover image ABS on the Ball: A Pilates Approach to Building Superb Abdominals

ABS on the Ball: A Pilates Approach to Building Superb Abdominals

Colleen Craig. Healing Arts Press, $18 (200pp) ISBN 978-0-89281-098-7

Craig preempts reader doubts about the need for her latest fitness-on-the-ball book with a first chapter called""Why Another Book on Abdominal Conditioning?"" Here, she explains the drawbacks of some traditional abdominal conditioning methods, the implications of recent research, the benefits of the Joseph H. Pilates method of core strengthening and the ways that an exercise ball enhances an abdominal workout. Then Craig takes the reader from the fundamentals of Pilates-based abdominal work on a ball (from breathing to body parts) and on to basic, intermediate and advanced exercises. The book concludes with a series of 15 and 30-minute workouts incorporating moves described in previous chapters. Black-and-white photos clearly illustrate how each exercise should be done, making this book appropriate even for those with a limited fitness vocabulary. 150 b&w illustrations.