Pilates was designed by Joseph Pilates during World War I to improve the rehabilitation program for the returning veterans. Joseph Pilates had the belief that both mental health and physical health are essential to one another.
He recommended some precise body movements that control and form to aid injured soldiers. These movements were used to regain their health by strengthening, stretching and stabilizing the key muscles in the body.
He created the Pilates Principles to condition the whole body aiding in proper alignment, centering, concentration, control, precision, breathing and flowing movement.
The Pilates method is a physical fitness system, which Joseph Pilates developed in the early 20th century. As of 2005, there are eleven million people who practice pilates regularly.
There are also 14,000 instructors in the United States alone. Pilates believed his method uses the mind to control the muscles. Focuses for this program are on the core postural muscles, which help keep the body balanced.
These are essential to providing support for the spine and in turn supports the entire body. Pilates teaches awareness of breathing and the alignment of the spine and aim to strengthen the deep torso muscles.
Joseph Pilates was a legendary physical fitness trainer born in Germany in 1880. As a child he was small and frail. This fuelled his fascination for physical fitness that would make him stronger and more physically attractive.
He later became an accomplished skier, boxer and gymnast. In 1926, he and his wife opened their first studio in New York City. Many of their first clients were from the dancing world.
