Pilates exercise machine

I would love some advice on buying a Pilates exercise machine, not too expensive. I watched some demos on QVC for about 15 minutes recently and looked around a bit on the internet. There seem to be quite a few manufacturers and models. Help!

I have a question...playing devil's advocate here...why do you want the machine? what is wrong with mat pilates, a ball, a balance board, and a band, all together much less than the machine. PLUS, do you know how to use the machine? I mean properly. I would HIGHLY recommend getting a pilates instructor to come to your home to teach you. You can get seriously injured.

Sorry if i sound harsh. I see so many of my clients who say the same thing. They have classes, or a gym to go to, and the announce. i should buy a....My suggestion, buy a video and see if you will actually DO The workout, on your own at home. it takes THREE weeks to start a new habit. So that is how long you should give yourself. if you find you have been good and doing that workout, then take an actual class on the reformer. See if it is something that you would do on your own, at home. Again, three weeks.

Just my two cents (as always.).

Smile!

hannah

Hi
I have the pilates performer from QVC and I really like it. It does build your core muscles and the difference between a mat or a tape is that it keeps your spine in line to work those muscles. You may hurt yourself without the track. I like it first thing in the morning for 20 minutes to get my muscles awake and going.
I have taken pilates in a gym and not being very flexable and older I actually got hurt trying to do it just on the mat. I do like the ball and that really helps the tummy area.
It would be great to have an instructor all to yourself but where I live there is no such animal and I am not sure I could afford it. ;)

I understand your concerns han-grrl and do feel a certain validity. However, I also see that you live in Ottawa. I am afraid what may be available to you in a city is not in my area. Here in the mountains of western Maine, I live 30 miles from the nearest stoplight!! We are a ski resort town, and are lucky enough to have a recreation/gym building. There is actually a pilates exercise session. That sounds good so far, right. Now the bad part. The instructor took one class of training herself, she merely leads the group with no instruction at all regardless of whether one is a beginner or more experienced. It is mostly a survival session. Unfortunately the gal is the daughter of my best friend.
I thought I might be better off with a good DVD and the machine, and that might be better than trying to learn how to do mat or ball work on my own. Further comments or suggestions???

My teacher (fully trained and certified) recommends Mari Windsor's DVD's. They both trained with Romana K - one heck of a Pilates pedigree. If you can't find a good teacher, please be very careful when starting out. You can hurt yourself.

Check out College Video for some of Mari's workouts. She also has a book out, the name escapes me right now, that would probably be worthwhile too.

Also check out Romana's Pilates DVDs (she just does the intro, and other instructors do the work-out) and, believe it or not, the Pilates for Dummies DVD. The Dummies DVD has good instruction about how to do the exercise properly.

And, someday, if you're on vacation somewhere a bit more, um, urban ;), do a session with a certified instructor to make sure you're doing the exercises right (minor adjustments can make a huge difference).

Have fun!

Cathy