Pilates

"Pilates" – An exercise method named after Joseph Hubertus Pilates. [No it’s not Asian :-)]

I am extremely glad that I discovered the Pilates "matwork" about 6 months ago, I highly recommend it. Thanks Lesley!

Joseph Pilates was born near Duesseldorf, Germany in 1880, in an area called "Rheinland" ...coincidentally I grew up there, too.

As a child, Pilates apparently suffered from a number of physical ailments including rickets and asthma but was determined to overcome these health problems and began a lifelong dedication to physical fitness. Beginning with gymnastics, body-building and skiing, he also studied eastern training methods such as Yoga and Zen meditation.

Pilates left Germany for England in 1912, where he earned a living in various ways, as a professional boxer, circus performer, teaching self-defense to members of the Scotland Yard, and as a nurse. He continued to develop his exercise method while interned in England during World War I. During this time, he designed exercise apparatus for immobilized patients by attaching springs to hospital beds. This system formed the foundation for his style of body conditioning and specialized exercise apparatus, which he brought to New York City when he opened the first Pilates Studio in 1926.

Pilates still looked amazing at the age of 80.