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What is the Pilates Method of Body Conditioning?

Emphasizing body alignment and correct breathing, the Pilates Method uses a series of movements carefully designed to build strength evenly throughout the body. Tailored to your body and your capacity, this system uses concentration ... control ...centering ... precision ... flow of movement ... and breathing. The art of controlling the sense of well-being that comes with robust health ... of controlling the ability of your body to do what your mind tells it to do ... the art of achieving strength and flexibility ... is a function of training and diligence.

The Pilates Method of Body Conditioning is an exercise system favored by dancers, athletes, and individuals of all ages to stay in peak condition. It can reward you the kind of strength, vigor, and suppleness cherished by trained dancers. In just weeks the Pilates Method can restore muscular balance to your body - improve your posture - build the strength to prevent muscle and soft tissue injury - because it uses your entire body, and not just isolated muscle groups. The Pilates Method of Body Conditioning leaves you refreshed and alert, with a feeling of physical and mental well-being. Tangible effects become apparent to you in only 10 sessions. In 20 sessions, the positive effects become visible and obvious to others. In 30 sessions, you will feel as if you have an entirely new body.

Developed during World War I by the legendary physical trainer, Joseph Pilates, the system uses a combination of simple but meticulously designed repetitive exercises and special equipment that creates variable resistance muscular exertion. The Pilates Method begins by strengthening the abdomen, lower back and hips, and focuses on making the torso the power center of the body. This allows the rest of the body to move more freely. It directs your mind to your body, which makes the exercises more interesting and more efficient.

Special equipment invented by Joseph Pilates and proven over more than 70 years, assists the process by offering spring-controlled resistance to muscular exertion, in a carefully controlled series of exercises. The primary device is the Reformer - a patented bed-like platform with a carriage that slides along tracks. You move the wooden carriage by pushing against a bar, or pulling on looped straps, with the arms or legs. Carefully developed exercises done on mats supplements the exercises done on the machines. For the experienced and trained student, several of the exercises can be done without an instructor, and many of the mat exercises can be done at home.

Who was Joseph Pilates?

Joseph Pilates' lifelong interest in body conditioning began when he was a child, seeking ways to develop his own frail body. A native of Germany, he became an accomplished skier, diver, and gymnast. While training to be a boxer in England, he performed in the circus, and taught self-defense to Scotland Yard detectives. As a nurse in World War I, he experimented with springs attached to hospital beds to strengthen patients, and to allow them to begin moving before they could get out of bed. His then revolutionary discoveries led him to design the Universal Reformer, and the mat exercises, that became the foundation of the Pilates Method. In 1923, he came to the United States, bringing with him the physical training system that's continued to grow in sophistication and popularity. Today, the Pilates Method is used by dance companies throughout the world, as well as by Olympic Athletes, professional athletes, and sports teams. Fitness centers increasingly find the Pilates Method to be the preferred exercise system for individuals of all ages.