What is Pilates?

Pilates (pronounced puh-lah-tees and not pie-lates) is a method of exercise and physical movement designed to stretch, strengthen, and balance the body. With systematic practice of specific exercises coupled with focused breathing patterns, Pilates has proven itself invaluable not only as a fitness endeavor but also as an important adjunct to professional sports training and physical rehabilitation of all kinds.

The Pilates Method is named after its inventor, Joseph H. Pilates, a fitness and conditioning enthusiast born in Germany in 1883

Having emigrated to the US in 1926, Joseph Pilates and his wife Clara taught in their New York City studio, serving a small and devoted list of clients in relative obscurity. In recent decades, however, the Pilates Method has been embraced by mainstream culture worldwide, and the word “Pilates” is now a household name.

Pilates classes are most commonly delivered in three formats – group Mat classes, group Reformer classes, and private or small group studio classes where the client works on the full range of apparatus Pilates invented, such as the Reformer, Trapeze Table, Ladder Barrel, Wunda Chair or Spine Corrector.