About Pilates

Pilates is a method of exercise originating from the work of Joseph Pilates, which in his time he called Contrology. He said, "It is the mind which builds the body." Evidenced by his complete exercise method teaching awareness and control, focused breath work and postural work. Pilates builds your body's core strength, improves flexibility, balance and stamina through a series of low impact conditioning and stretching exercises. As all movements are controlled and low impact there is little stress placed on the body . It therefore avoids the muscle and joint damage associated with other types of exercise.

Pilates is not just another exercise system. Pilates' principles and fundamentals carry over into every day life and other sporting activities and they will improve your quality of movement and well being. Physiotherapists, osteopaths and doctors are now recommending the holistic approach of Pilates as one of the safest forms of exercise today.

Pilates is suitable for everyone, from teens right into the 90s, from couch potatoes to elite athletes. If you are a professional athlete looking to improve performance and function, someone wanting to alleviate pain or you are simply looking to achieve a healthier level of fitness then consider Pilates allowing your mind and body to work in harmony.

The best way to get started in Pilates is to join a beginners class with a qualified Pilates teacher. Classes are held in most towns in studios equipped with specialist exercise equipment or in village halls and sports centres where matwork often takes precedence.

The Real People Pilates DVD's will enable you to work out at home, providing safe functional and effective exercise routines. The DVD's are an excellent compliment to any exercise program.

We recommend that you only train with a fully qualified teacher who is a member of a recognised Pilates training association. Pilates training takes years and is an ongoing process with committed teachers continuing their studies and taking workshops to help bring about further benefits. Please be aware that some classes taught at sports centres and other places could be led by instructors who may have only experienced minimal training. Never shy away from asking about a teachers qualifications and current membership status. It's your body that is at risk.

You should always seek professional medical advice before undertaking any new exercise programme.

Joseph Hubertus Pilates, 1880 - 1967

History of Pilates

The Pilates method of exercise was created by Joseph Pilates, who was born in 1880 near Dusseldorf, Germany. Joe was frail as a child, suffering from asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever. He overcame his physical limitations with exercise and body building, becoming a model for anatomical drawings at the age of 14. He became accomplished in many sports, including skiing, diving and gymnastics. Joe went to England in 1912, where he worked as a self-defense instructor for detectives at Scotland Yard. At the outbreak of World War I, Joe was interned as an "enemy alien" with other German nationals. During his internment, Joe refined his ideas and trained other internees in his system of exercise. He rigged springs to hospital beds, enabling bedridden patients to exercise against resistance, an innovation that led to his later equipment designs. An influenza epidemic struck England in 1918, killing thousands of people, but not a single one of Joe's trainees died. This, he claimed, testified to the effectiveness of his system.

After his release, Joe returned to Germany. His exercise method gained favor in the dance community, primarily through Rudolf von Laban, who created the form of dance notation most widely used today. Hanya Holm adopted many of Joe's exercises in her program, and they are still part of the "Holm Technique." When Joe was asked to teach his fitness system to the German army, he decided to leave Germany for good. In 1926, he emigrated to the United States. During the voyage he met Clara, whom he later married. Joe and Clara opened a fitness studio in New York, sharing an address with the New York City Ballet.

The Pilates movement gains in popularity

By the early 1960s, the Pilates' could count among their clients many New York dancers. George Balanchine out "at Joe's," as he called it, and also invited Pilates to instruct his young ballerinas at the New York City Ballet. In fact, "Pilates" was becoming popular outside of New York as well. As the New York Herald Tribune noted in 1964, "in dance classes around the United States, hundreds of young students limber up daily with an exercise they know as a pilates, without knowing that the word has a capital P, and a living, right-breathing namesake."