Feel young and fit in an Ageless Pilates body

Pilates coach and fitness author Christine Binnendyk’s recently published book Ageless Pilates provides a clearly written, fully illustrated, easy-to-use exercise manual to help anyone at any age achieve a stronger, more flexible, and energetic body.

Binnendyk’s introduction to this unique system occurred more than 20 years ago at The Pilates Studio of the Midwest in Evanston, Illinois. While learning how to do the mat exercises and use the special machines to realign and rebuild her body, Binnendyk also found relief from chronic back pain that resulted from a serious car accident several years earlier. So impressed with the healing effect from her practice of Pilates, she decided to pursue an apprenticeship under Romana Kryzanowska, the oldest living protégé of the Pilates creator Joseph Pilates.

Binnendyk has taken her years of experience working with classic Pilates and combined it with modern physical training to create the Ageless Pilates System. Her book does an excellent job of relaying comprehensive information and detailed instructions to guide the reader through 23 fifteen-minute lessons and 18 thirty-minute workouts.

The lessons center on three important aspects of Binnendyk’s system:

1. Anchor points to stabilize the body while going through the movements of the exercise
2. Body geometry to provide the correct way to align the body for optimal use of muscles
3. Comfort options to help customize exercises using descriptions of how the body should feel during the exercises and tips on alternative positions and range of motion for each individual’s needs.

Among the 18 workouts, several deal specifically with body ailments such as arthritis, bone building and lower back pain.

If you’ve never tried Pilates and would like a low-cost introduction to this exercise system, Binnendyk’s book does an excellent job using a safe, comfortable, yet inspiring approach to building and keeping a strong healthy body for a lifetime.

For more information on Pilates in Chicagoland, be sure to check out Yvonne Bennett, Chicago Pilates Examiner.