The Pilates Method of Body Conditioning

The Pilates Method of Body Conditioning is a system of more than 500 exercises performed on spring-based apparatus designed by Joseph H. Pilates in the early 20th century. As a child growing up in Germany, Pilates suffered from a variety of chronic medical conditions. In an effort to improve his own health, he began to study eastern and western approaches to fitness training, including boxing, gymnastics, and the martial arts. Over time, he took elements from all of these approaches and created his own method and equipment, which he first used to rehabilitate soldiers during World War I. Pilates adhered to the classical Greek ideal of man being equally developed in mind, body and spirit.

Pilates immigrated to New York City in 1926. He met his wife, Clara, a nurse who was instrumental in his work, on his boat trip across the Atlantic. Once settled in New York, they began to use his method to train dancers, actors, athletes and the general public. He published several books, including Return to Life (1945), which outlines the original repertoire of mat-based Pilates exercises. He believed his work was ground breaking and fifty years ahead of its time.

Pilates based his work on six key principles: breathing, centering, control, concentration, precision, alignment and flowing movement. The method, which he called Contrology, offers a complete physical and mental workout.

Pilates died in 1967, and his work has been carried on by a small group of his former students, including Romana Kryzonawska, Kathy Grant, Ron Fletcher, Mary Bowen, Lolita San Miguel, Eve Gentry, and Carola Trier. All but two of the group, known as the Pilates Elders, are still living and practicing Pilates in their late 70s and 80s. Much of what has come to be known as "classical" or "New York-based" Pilates has been handed down by Pilates protégé, Kryzanowska.