The Pilates (pi-lah-teez) Method is a physical conditioning system used by fitness enthusiasts, professional dancers, athletes and skaters, as well as individuals who are generally not active, to enhance strength training, prevent injury, and provide rehabilitation.

The Pilates Method was originated by Joseph H. Pilates (1883–1967). The German-born son of a gymnast was a weak and sickly child who suffered from asthma, rickets, and rheumatic fever. As a result, he dedicated his entire life to improving his physical strength and health. Joseph Pilates came to believe that the bad posture and inefficient breathing of a “modern” lifestyle were the causes of poor health. He devised a series of exercises and training techniques, and designed all of the equipment and specifications required to teach his methods. 

In the 1960s and later in the 1980s The Pilates Method enjoyed a renaissance in the fitness, health education, dance, and physical therapy communities as a functional and effective approach to fitness and postural alignment. This resurgence is here again today, this time with particular interest in training on the Pilates Reformer. The legacy of Joseph Pilates’ is global.  

Pilates is recognized by medical and fitness professionals as a complete conditioning program that develops deep core strength, lean muscular tone, increased flexibility, improved endurance, and greater control of movement. This unique system of exercise works on the deep muscles of the core to promote efficient and graceful movement through postural and neuromuscular re-education.