What Is Pilates?

Pilates was created in the 1920s by the physical trainer Joseph Pilates, who was born in Germany in 1883 and who was a sickly child dedicated to improving his health. He studied and practiced body-building, Yoga (click to read about the Yoga/Pilates connection), skiing, Zen, and gymnastics. By age 14, his health was so improved that he was able to pose for anatomical charts. In England and Germany, Pilates honed his method of physical improvment techniques, and in the mid-1920s he emigrated to the United States, meeting his wife, Clara, aboard ship. They opened a studio in New York City, calling their system "contrology". The couple privately trained students into the 1960s. Some of those first students were soldiers returning from war and dancers such as Martha Graham and George Balanchine.

The Pilates "method," as it is now known, is an exercise system focused on improving flexibility, strength, and body awareness without necessarily building bulk. The method is a series of controlled movements performed on specially designed spring-resistant exercise apparatus (the reformer, the cadillac, the spine corrector, the ladder barrel, and the Wunda Chair) or on the floor (mat work), and the sessions are supervised by specially trained instructors. Pilates is resistance exercise, not aerobic (cardio), although the heart rate will certainly rise for a deconditioned individual. At Green Lotus, we practice mat Pilates because of its compatibility to yoga practice.

As with Yoga, two of the key elements of Pilates are core muscle strength and spinal alignment. The core musculature is loosely defined as the spine, abdomen, pelvis, hips, and the muscles that support these structures. Some of the main core muscles are the erector spinae (located in your back along your spine), the internal and external obliques (the sides of your abdomen), the transverse abdominis (located deep in your gut, this muscle pulls your belly button in toward your spine), the rectus abdominis (the "six-pack"), and hip flexors (in your pelvis and upper leg).

During a Pilates session, whether it's on the machines or the floor, your instructor will continuously prompt you to concentrate deeply on your core muscles, as well as on your breath, the contraction of your muscles, and the quality (not quantity) of your movements. These are also key elements of Pilates, and your instructor will emphasize them at every session. The objective is a coordination of mind, body, and spirit, something Joseph Pilates called "contrology." In his first book published in 1945, Pilates' Return to Life Through Contrology, the 34 original exercises that Pilates taught to his students are described along with the guiding principles of contrology.