Joseph Pilates - Founder of
Pilates Exercise Program

movement, was born in Mönchengladbach, Germany, in 1880.

He was a small and sickly child who suffered from asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever. As a result of all his physical problems he decided to dedicate his life to becoming a physically stronger human being.

Joseph turned to body-building and gymnastics early on. By the time he was 14 years of age he had developed his body to the point that he was able to model for actual anatomy charts!

He achieved some success in his life as a boxer, gymnast, circus-performer and self-defense trainer. Additionally, he was a skilled skier and diver. He came to believe that the roots of all poor health lay at the feet of a "modern" life-style as well as bad posture and inefficient breathing.

During World War I the British authorities interned him in a camp in Lancaster with other German citizens. Here he trained other inmates in all sorts of fitness and exercise regimes. There he taught wrestling and self-defense. Here is where the beginnings of the his Pilates Exercise Method began to take shape.

While at this camp he also began devising equipment to rehabilitate the injured and bedridden. He often took the springs from the beds and rigged various exercise apparatus for the rheumatic patients at the camp. Later Pilates went on to devise a series of several training techniques and exercises and engineered all the equipment, specifications and tuning required to teach his exercise methods properly.

Of that time Joseph Pilates himself said, "I invented all these machines. Began back in Germany, was there until 1925 used to exercise rheumatic patients. I thought, why use My strength? So I made a machine to do it for me. Look, you see it resists your movements in just the right way so those inner muscles really have to work against it. That way you can concentrate on movement. You must always do it slowly and smoothly. Then your whole body is in it."

Joseph Pilates later moved on to the United States of America. While on the ship to America he met his future wife Clara, who was a kindergarten teacher who also suffered from arthritic pain. Later on the couple founded a studio in New York City where they taught and supervised all their students - well into the 1960s.

The Pilates exercise method, originally called "Contrology", related to the use of the mind to control the individual muscles. It focused attention on the core postural muscles to keep the human body balanced while providing plenty of support for the spine. All Pilates exercises teach both awareness of breath and of spinal alignment while also strengthening the muscles of the torso.

Joe's definition of physical fitness was: "the attainment and maintenance of a uniformly developed body with a sound mind fully capable of naturally, easily and satisfactorily performing our many and varied daily tasks with spontaneously zest and pleasure". Pilates believed in "natural movements" with the emphasis on doing and being. He has stated, " Everything should be smooth, like a cat. The exercises are done lying, sitting, kneeling, etc., to avoid excess strain on the heart and lungs."

Joseph Pilates definitely practiced what he preached and lived a long and very healthy life. He also wrote several books, including Return to Life through Contrology and Your Health. He died in 1967 at the age of 87. His wife Clara, long regarded by many students as the better teacher, continued to teach and run their studio until she died 10 years later, in 1977.

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