History of the Pilates Method

There is a history of this practice, given that it has been almost 100 years since Joseph Pilates (1880-1967 / Düsseldorf) decided to study the human body and the way to strengthen itself by exercise, a decision which resulted from his sickliness as a child, with repeated asthma attacks and rheumatic fevers.

Alter a childhood of severe health troubles, he became a great athlete, swimmer and boxer, which led him to be chosen in 1912 to teach personal defence to the detectives of Scotland Yard. His gymnastics tables, along with psychic rules, gave birth to the systemisation of 500 exercises combining strength, resistance and flexibility, besides mental control.

Whilst living in England, he was interned in a concentration camp during World War I. During that period, he worked as a nurse and developed a methodology capable of improving the health of the people who lived with him in the concentration camp. Thanks to him, many of these people were able to overcome the big epidemic that devastated England in 1918.

The success of his methodologies aroused his interest in introducing them to the general public and he expressed his teachings through 2 books:

- “Return to Life through Contrology” and,
- “Your health: A Corrective System of Exercising that Revolutionizes the Entire Field of Physical Education”.

Alter his stay in England, he moved to the United States in 1923, where he gained great popularity within the ballet and dance world. After clandestine beginnings, during which time he taught his method in very reduced circles, he gradually attracted people from other sports and artistic disciplines and from the highest social classes. Indeed, his method enabled many of its users to recover easily from lesions, avoid them, and maintain an ideal, healthy state.

Its success continues today and, despite its glamorous image, top-level scientific magazines recognize this method as an advisable option for those who look for alternatives in preventive exercise. Moreover, in the U.S. and Great Britain, it is already recognised as a rehabilitation therapy.

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