Thigh and Glutes Workout by Michael King and Yolande Green

This is a small book, part of a series titled: Pilates Personal Trainer. As the title says, it describes a series of exercises that focus on building and shaping your thigh and… errr… rear. Can I say “ass”?

I find this somewhat ironic, and arguably goes against the basic principles of Pilates, which is, as the first few chapters explain, a holistic exercise system for whole-body health.

So I suppose some will say that it is not right to write and publish a book on Pilates dedicated to only one part of the body. Well, they did, no doubt because they know there are plenty of women out there who couldn’t care less about their holistic health or posture, but want a more shapely butt and slimmer thighs.

The first forty pages are identical to the other books in the series. There are a few chapters that explain the basics of Pilates for people who are not yet familiar with it. There are eight short chapters on the Vital Elements: Concentration, Breathing, Centering, Control, Neutral Spine, Precision, and Isolation.

The workout is divided into warm-ups, core elements, and exercises that explicitly work the thighs and glutes.

The warm-up is similar but not identical to other warm-up exercises in the series: Swinging, Runner stretch, Quad stretch, Hamstring stretch with dynaband, Balance 1 and Balance 2.

Next: Hundred, Balance Check, Swimming, Pushups, Side Kick, Lateral Raises, Single Leg Circle (Low), Single Leg Circle (High), Single Leg Stretch, Hip Twist, Knee Circle, Scissors Side kicks, Scissors, Supine pull leg, Prone leg plank, Shoulder bridge, Kneeling side kick, Double leg stretch and The can can.

All exercises are well described and illustrated with photographs.

As I see it, the two main obstacles are:

It is difficult to effectively practice Pilates exercises in the most efficient way, because they require mental focus, which most of us are not used to applying to our body movements. Also, on our own and without a teacher, it is difficult to determine with certainty whether we are performing them accurately.

The second obstacle is that Pilates cannot overcome poor eating habits and large amounts of fat (sagging) stored in the thighs and rear. You may have built some incredible muscles in your thighs and butt, but no one can see them if they’re covered in pounds of extra fatty tissue.

This is also true in other places. Most men have six-pack abs, but you can’t see them because they’re covered in fat.

Exercise is important, and Pilates is excellent for developing well rounded and balanced full bodies.

But if you want your legs and butt to look less saggy, you’ll need to lose weight in addition to exercising.