What is Pilates?
Pilates is a form of exercise which concentrates on strengthening the entire body with emphasis on the core.
Pilates has three fundamentals which are…
Alignment - Correct alignment at the start and throughout a movement is essential. By correctly aligning the body, this encourages sound recruitment patterns meaning the joints remain healthy.
Breathing - Pilates uses specific breathing patterns to assist the movements as well as helping to stabilise others. This synchronisation helps to relax and focus the body.
Centring - Pilates focuses on maintaining support and control of the body in movement. It does so by encouraging the recruitment of deep core muscles. The intensity of this centring process will reflect on the demands of each exercise.
A little Pilates history…
Joseph Pilates, born in 1883, was a German physical trainer. Pilates’ love of movement stemmed from him being a frail and sickly child. He suffered from rickets, asthma and rheumatic fever. He was determined to bring himself back to health and took inspiration from practices such as yoga, gymnastics, dance, circus training and weight training. These all influenced the ‘Pilates Method’ as we know it today.
When Pilates’ was an adult he began training these techniques , that had helped him build strength and flexibility, to others when he worked at Scotland Yard training detectives. When the First World War broke out, due to Pilates nationality, he was interned. It was here that he started to help out in the camp infirmary and share his method to rehabilitate people. This was how a lot of the Pilates equipment was born. The Cadillac being based on instances when people were bed ridden.
Some time after the war Pilates emigrated to America and on his way there he met his wife Clara. They opened their own fitness studio together in New York, working with the New York City Ballet. The method then was known as ‘Contrology’.
Their studio became very popular especially within the dance community, as it offered a chance to improve technique or recover from injury. While Joe is the man behind the method, it was his wife Clara that became the real teacher in the studio and allowed the method to be passed on to apprentices. The 'Pilates Elders' (the handful of people who trained directly in the first NY Studio) talk of Clara being the nurturing force behind the man; Clara established the tradition of evolving and adapting the Pilates method to suit the individual needs of clients.
It was the 8th Avenue studio that the Pilates Method as we know it today was defined. Joseph firmly believed that his method, which became known as ‘Pilates’ only after his death in 1967 (aged 83), should be a part of an overall commitment to a healthy lifestyle.
