Why Pilates?
Pilates is a truly accessible and inclusive form of exercise. It’s suitable for pretty much everyone - whether you are recovering from injury, a new mum, not hugely active, a serious athlete or maybe an older adult. It can be modified to accommodate injury and aid rehabilitation, tailored to suit experience level and used as cross-training to improve performance in a particular sport. And although it can be beneficial - and fun - to add small equipment such as foam rollers, weights, and exercise balls into the mix, all you really need is yourself and your mat.
The benefits…
Improve muscle strength & tone
Enhance flexibility and range of movement
Improve co-ordination & balance
Release stress & tension
Improve concentration
Prevent injury
Improve posture
Promote bone health
Raise energy levels
And some less obvious benefits…
movement of the joints boosts the immune system
improved posture & massaging effect of some exercises aids digestion
exercise boosts creation of new brain cells responsible for memory & learning
learning new movement patterns & engaging with different muscles creates new neural pathways - great for a healthy nervous system
A little bit of history.
Originally called 'Contrology' by its creator, Joseph Pilates, the Pilates method has a long and rich history - of which this is a very brief summary!
Born in Germany in 1880, a childhood plagued by ill-health led to Joseph Pilates forming a fascination with exercise programmes and, perhaps unsurprisingly, convinced him of the value of achieving and maintaining physical health and fitness.
He became an accomplished sportsman with skills ranging from boxing to diving. But it was as a circus tumbler that he came to Britain in 1913. At the outbreak of World War 1 he and his troupe were interned as ‘enemy aliens’ on the Isle of Man. Over the months they were held there, Pilates observed the deterioration in both the spirit and physical fitness of his fellow-internees. To remedy this he began to formulate and teach the exercises that would become the foundation of Contrology. With typical ingenuity, he even rigged springs to hospital beds to allow bed-ridden patients to exercise against resistance as part of their rehabilitation - an idea which he later developed amongst his apparatus designs.
“Pilates is complete coordination of body, mind and spirit.”
Returning to Germany in 1919, he continued to work on his methodology, drawing inspiration from medical practitioners, breathing and meditation practises, and the world of dance. He emigrated to the USA in 1926 where he met and married his wife Clara. They opened a studio in New York City in the same building as the New York City Ballet. Clara both managed the studio and taught - and seems to have had the reputation of being rather the more patient and diplomatic half of the partnership! Many dancers began to work with Joseph and Clara to enhance their training and rehabilitate from injury. Their studio also attracted actors (such as screen legends Gregory Peck and Katharine Hepburn), sportspeople and the New York elite, all drawn to a method which offered improved flexibility and strength - in partnership with a harmony of mind and body.
As well as continuing to hone his method and develop equipment such as the Reformer, Pilates produced two books: "Your Health" in 1934, and "Return to Life through Contrology" in 1945. In them he outlined both his 34 mat-based exercises and his philosophy. He shared his passionate belief that modern life, with all its’ sedentary pursuits and effort-saving devices, is essentially detrimental to our fitness and well-being. He felt that, to achieve our full potential - in ALL aspects of our lives - we must work towards achieving strong, healthy bodies and developing our minds. Pilates offered his method as the solution, believing that it would benefit every individual - and society as a whole.
“The whole country, the whole world, should be doing my exercises. They’d be happier.”
By the mid-60s his method was travelling beyond New York as First Generation teachers (proteges of Joseph Pilates - many of them dancers originally) moved elsewhere and continued to teach Joe's philosophy and techniques. Each teacher brought their own background and experience to their teaching and interpretation of Pilates' work - and so it evolved. Joseph Pilates died in 1967 at the age of 83, with Clara continuing to teach until 1970. By the 1980s Second Generation teachers were beginning to set up studios, more formal teacher training programmes were being developed, and the popularity of the method now known as “Pilates” continued to grow. Nowadays: Pilates is a staple of gym timetables; there are studios around the world; every year teachers and enthusiasts from across the globe share and celebrate one (or two) of the original exercises each day through '“March Matness”; it often forms a key element of the rehabilitation exercises Physiotherapists recommend to their clients; and there are a multitude of classes to be found online. So, whilst it was not embraced as widely as Pilates had hoped during his lifetime, it is now truly available to all.
“Change happens through movement and movement heals.”
Source: Pilates, JH, Robbins J, Van Heuit-Robbins,L. Pilates' Return to Life Through Contrology - Revised Edition. 2012
Source: Body Control Pilates. History. http://www.bodycontrolpilates.com/
Source: Pilates Method Alliance. History of Pilates. https://www.pilatesmethodalliance.org/