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The popularity of Pilates has skyrocketed over the last ten years. For those that haven't heard much about it, Pilates is an exercise system originally created by Joseph Pilates that focuses on core strength while also emphasizing flexibility and strength through motion, stability, balance, and many other important aspects of strength training. The best thing about it: Pilates is something that anyone can do, irrespective of age, gender, or fitness level. Pilates movements range from extremely simple to surprisingly complex and difficult.
Paralleled with the rising popularity of Pilates is the increasing popularity of Pilates machines. These are application-specific exercise machines that help you perform the Pilates exercises, either by giving you an increased range of motion and support, or helping you ease into some of the more complex movements. One of the more interesting machines available on the market today is the Pilates Allegro Reformer, available at Pilates.com (http://www.pilates.com/BBAPP/V/equi...). Market research indicates that this unit is most regularly purchased by women, although more and more men are becoming interested in Pilates. (Most of the exercise videos on Pilates are taught by women, although it's interesting to note that the system was invented by a man. I find the exercises to be extremely rewarding and very beneficial as a man myself.)
This device is being used in many gyms and fitness centers around the country to teach people the most common Pilates routines. I bought one of these machines and have been using it for over two years. Here's my review of my experience with it:
The Balanced Body Allegro Pilates Reformer is one of the best-constructed exercise machines I have ever had the pleasure of owning. It is truly a professional piece of equipment. There's nothing cheap about this machine. Its price isn't cheap at around $2300, but the machine is rugged and its mechanics allow you to perform a bewildering array of Pilates moves -- many more than you can perform on a mat.
This machine allows you to take your Pilates practice to a whole new level. You can use it to work your upper body, abdominal and core regions, and even your legs. There is no muscle group that you can't work on this machine, both in terms of strength training and the range of motion training.
Phenomenal design and engineeringThe Balanced Body Allegro Pilates Reformer is extremely well designed. It's quick and easy to change the resistance level by disconnecting or reconnecting any one of a series of easily accessible color-coded springs. If you want to change the level of resistance of the sliding platform, you simply connect different colored springs to add up to the level of resistance you desire. But this is no weight machine: due of the mechanics of Pilates, some moves are harder to do when there is less resistance! (The resistance actually assists the move, so using less tension on the springs means using more tension in your own muscles.)
The more resistance you have on the machine, the more assistance you are getting on certain exercises, so even a person with very poor abdominal strength can choose a level of resistance on the machine that makes it easy to go through the full range of motions for leg lifts, for example, whereas they would not be able to do this on their own. Other exercises are configured in a way that makes them more difficult when you have more resistance, and these moves can be adjusted to be either easy or difficult, depending on your preference.
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Friday, April 20, 2007
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