What is Pilates?

Joseph Pilates was born in 1883 and was a sickly child who suffered with asthma and other ailments. 

He turned to exercise to try to correct his symptoms and became enamored by the classical Greek ideal of a man balanced in body, mind, and began to develop his own exercise system based on this concept which he called Contrology.

Whilst being interned on the Isle of Wight during the First World War Joe experimented with using bed springs attached to the bed frame to add resistance to the movements he was creating and the first bednasium was created which later inspired the invention of the reformer and Cadillac. 

After the war Joe returned home to Germany before he emigrated to America in 1926. Once there he established a studio in New York and worked with many dancers and actors including George Balanchine and Roberta Peters.

Joseph Pilates continued to train clients at his studio until his death in 1967, at the age of 87. His clients continued to teach his work and spread contrology around the world and it is through this lineage that the work has been kept alive today.

Benefits of Pilates

- Improved posture

- Strengthen your core

- Relieve back pain

- Increase flexibility

- Reconnect to your body

- Increased breath control

- Improves bone density