After WWI, Joseph Pilates briefly returned to Germany, where his reputation as a physical trainer and healer preceded him. In Germany, he worked briefly for the Hamburg military police in self-defense and physical training. In , he was asked to train the German army. Instead, he packed his bags and took a boat to New York City. On the boat to America, Joseph met Clara, a nurse, who would become his wife. He went on to establish his studio in New York, and Clara worked with him as he evolved the Pilates method of exercise, invented the Pilates exercise equipment, and trained students.
Joseph Pilates taught in New York from to During that time, he trained a number of students who not only applied his work to their own lives but became teachers of the Pilates method themselves. This first generation of teachers who trained directly with Joseph Pilates is often referred to as the Pilates Elders. Some committed themselves to pass along Joseph Pilates's work exactly as he taught it. Other students went on to integrate what they learned with their own philosophies and research in anatomy and exercise sciences.
Joseph Pilates' New York studio put him in close proximity to a number of dance studios, which led to his discovery by the dance community. Many dancers and well-known persons of New York depended on the Pilates method of training for the strength and grace it developed in the practitioner, as well as for its rehabilitative effects.
Dancers and elite athletes kept Joseph Pilates' work alive until exercise science caught up with the Pilates exercise principles in the s, leading the surge of interest in Pilates that we have today. Joseph Pilates passed away in He maintained a fit physique throughout his life, and many photos show that he was in a remarkable physical condition in his older years.
He is also said to have had a flamboyant personality. He smoked cigars, liked to party, and wore his exercise briefs wherever he wanted even on the streets of New York. It is said that he was an intimidating, though deeply committed, instructor.
Clara Pilates continued to teach and run the studio for another 10 years after Joseph Pilates' death. Today, Joseph Pilates' legacy is carried on by the Pilates Elders, and by a large group of contemporary teachers. Joseph Pilates called his work Contrology. These professionals would later go on to become the first generation of pilates teachers and instructors.
Joseph himself taught them, and in the s, these teachers began to form their own studios and pilates power gyms. They also trained their own students who would also become teachers. In this way, the pilates method fanned out in the New York area and especially among dancers and choreographers. With its teachings in grace, strength, and rehabilitation, pilates grew quickly among famous figures, including movies stars, musicians, athletes, and others in the spotlight.
This inevitably helped the pilates evolution throughout the U. Fans heard that their favorite celebrities used pilates to achieve toned, beautiful bodies and optimal health. Throughout the 90s and into the s, pilates studios began to sprout up in major cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles. Today, most cities and even smaller towns have pilates studios. This is true throughout the world, not just in America. Many well-known people still practice and have a love for pilates as well, including:.
It is most effective at improving flexibility, strength especially core strength , breathing, posture, and overall physical fitness. Pilates is for men and women and most all ages. Anyone can do pilates, unless otherwise instructed by a medical professional. The pilates fitness method is for novices and serious athletes alike. Simply find your entry point with pilates classes or instructors that will help you begin at your own pace. Other pilates equipment and props include pilates mats, pilates balance cushions, pilates core training balls, foam rollers, weighted pilates balls, and pilates resistance bands.
Pilates is a low-impact form of exercise that focuses on toning and strength as well as flexibility and spinal alignment. It can be done on a mat or a machine called a pilates reformer.
It strengthens and tones, but it also improves flexibility, breathing, posture, and joint pain. At the same time, remember that pilates works best for toning muscles, aligning the spine, and improving overall health and fitness. In all likelihood, something like the pilates hundreds workout is going to make you sweat the most. Still, pilates is not a traditional form of cardio.
Yes, pilates is a great exercise for beginners. Read more about it in our pilates for beginners blog. While many professional dancers, athletes, and already-fit people do pilates, it's a common misconception that this fitness method is only for the pros. In fact, the pilates origin is one of helping novices in particular. If you're just starting out, however, be sure to choose a beginner pilates class or workout regimen.
Mat pilates is a great place to start. If your spine is inflexibly stiff at 30, you are old. If it is completely flexible at 60, you are young. This proud mother of two is a former start-up consultant turned wellness professional, turned Wellness Start-Up Project Manager. While teaching, Joseph was known as a man who could be harsh and to the point- very matter-of-fact in telling his clients what to do and how to do an exercise.
There is a well known photograph of Joe standing on top of the stomach and rib cage of opera singer, Roberta Peters, while she was in the middle of an exercise, to teach her how to use her abdominals to protect and support her back properly. Today, the pilates method is truly a combination of both of their approaches to teaching. Once they were in the gym, he or Clara would give them a personalized workout, which they were expected to memorize and do on their own each time they visited the gym.
Each apparatus had a corresponding chart of small, black and white photos of Joe demonstrating exercises on all his equipment, in a particular order and in perfect form. The bulk of the Contrology workout was done on the Universal Reformer. His original reformers are slightly different than what we use today, with the main difference being that the mat was actually a wooden board, with no mat on it at all.
He was very serious about correcting poor posture and spinal health, which meant no comfortable, soft mats. It was a raised bed with metal framework and springs, straps, and bars attached to it. The springs and bars aided the clients with resistance and assistance to all the exercises. Each of these springs and bars had a specific use and name, such as leg springs, arm springs, roll back bar, push through bar, and trapeze bar, and hanging loops.
Students would do exercises that focused on spinal flexibility and full body alignment, as well as gymnastic-type moves. Clients would also work out on The Barrels, which were primarily used for spinal flexibility and extension. Which exercises they could do depended on the height and placement of the barrel. After inventing The Barrel, he was left with the metal rings from around the beer barrels, and not wanting to leave anything to waste, he invented The Magic Circle.
The Magic Circle is a small piece of equipment that we use very often in pilates classes today. Is the story behind the Barrel and the Magic Circle true? No one is totally sure. But it makes for a great story, which was yet another thing that Joe was a genius at creating.
He was even known to get into the shower with people to teach them proper washing and scrubbing techniques! Before a student walked out the door, they would take an apple with them. One way he tried to spread his method was by selling his equipment and charts to use along with it through a catalog for people to use at home.
The Junior Reformer is another piece of equipment that he tried to sell for home use. Other than the apparatus listed above and previously in this article, Joe invented many other pieces of equipment, between additional exercise equipment like the Ped-o-pul, The Gym-in-the-Door, The Toe Corrector, Finger Exerciser, Magic Square, and Tensometer, as well as furniture. Today, we recognize nearly exercises of Joseph Pilates. Other Inventions and Endeavors. He promoted the Bednasium through self-marketing, through articles and his books, and even soliciting bed and mattress companies to stop building beds flat and to start building all beds in the V shape.
His niece, Mary Pilates, has said that she remembers sleeping in the Bednasium and that it was quite comfortable. Joe spent much of his time passionately marketing his method. He was a true showman, and is even quoted in Life Magazine as stating he was a direct descendant of Pontius Pilate. Despite the popularity of his method and the genius behind his inventions, towards the end of his life he was a depressed man.
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