About Pilates

Pilates

(Pronounced: Pi-la-tees)

Well, maybe not the whole world, but certainly much of this country, parts of Canada, Europe, and Pan-Asia are experiencing the explosion in demand for Pilates, a method of exercise and physical movement designed to stretch, strengthen, and balance the body. With systematic practice of specific exercises coupled with focused breathing patterns, Pilates has proven itself invaluable not only as a fitness endeavor itself, but also as an important adjunct to professional sports training and physical rehabilitation of all kinds. Widely embraced among dancers for years, the exercises--"elephant," "swan", the language--"pull navel to spine, and breeaaaathe," and the look--bright-eyed, refreshed, buoyant-without-necessarily-sweating, is popping up in fitness classes, physical therapy offices, corporate retreats, luxury spas and wellness centers across the country.  

The History of Pilates 

Joseph Pilates

Joseph H. Pilates was born in Mönchengladbach Germany, in 1880, to parents of Greek and German ancestry. His father was a prize-winning gymnast of Greek origin and his mother a naturopath of German origin. A sickly child who suffered from asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever, he dedicated his entire life to becoming physically stronger. Joe began studying body building and gymnastics and by the age of 14 was fit enough to pose for anatomical charts. He came to believe that our modern life-style, bad posture, and inefficient breathing were the roots of poor health and ultimately devised a series of exercises, training techniques and engineered all the equipment, specifications and tuning required to teach them properly.

In 1912 he moved to England earning a living as a boxer, circus performer and self-defense trainer. During World War I he was interned with other German citizens in a camp in Lancaster where he trained other inmates in fitness and exercises. It was here that the beginnings of the true Pilates Method began to take shape.

After the War, Pilates immigrated to the United States. On the ship to America he met his future wife Clara. The couple founded a studio in New York City and directly taught and supervised their students well into the 1960’s. Pilates and his method, which he and Clara originally called "Contrology", refers to the way his method encourages the use of the mind to control the muscles. This method focuses on the core postural muscles that help keep the body balanced and are essential to providing support for the spine. In particular, Pilates exercises teach awareness of breath and alignment of the spine, and strengthen the deep torso muscles, which are important to help alleviate and prevent back pain. Well known dancers such as George Balanchine and Martha Graham became devotees and regularly sent their students to them for training and rehabilitation. Pilates practiced what he preached and lived a long healthy life. He died in 1967 at the age of 87.

He also wrote several books including "Return to Life through Contrology" and "Your Health". Joe and Clara had a number of disciples who continued to teach variations of his method or in some cases focused exclusively on preserving the method and instructor training techniques they learned during their studies with Joe and Clara.