Pilates – A Brief History and Overview

Several million people in the United State alone have jumped on the Pilates bandwagon. What is this interesting form of exercise and should you try it too? Many different forms of exercise and sport can be traced back thousands of years like martial arts and swimming, but Pilates is definitely a 20th century invention, developed in the 1920’s by a physical trainer named Joseph Pilates.

The original purpose of Pilates was rehabilitation of the body. Soldiers who came back from war with weakened bodies, aches and pains benefited from the techniques that Joseph Pilates created. Soon dancers in the ballet such as famed George Balanchine and Martha Graham found the Pilates technique beneficial for their craft. Flash forward to today and the basic method of Pilates still holds true, even with a few more modern modifications.

Defining Pilates

The Pilates method is a system of exercise which focuses on body consciousness, strength and flexibility, but the goal is not adding muscle mass or body bulk. Pilates uses a succession of controlled movements requiring different spring resistant equipment but some exercises are done without any extra implements. Some of the equipment you might see in a Pilates studio is the Wunda Chair, the Reformer, the Spin Corrector, the Cadillac and the Ladder Barrel.

Resistance is the name of the game when it comes to Pilates, not a heart pumping cardio workout. Of course, if you are out of shape, your heart rate will elevate doing Pilates. While you are not lifting weights, Pilates is compared to it because of its special resistance training that is not in the same league as cardio workouts like swimming and running.

The two fundamentals of Pilates include proper spinal alignment and core muscle strength. Your body’s core consists of your hips, spine, pelvic region, abdomen and all the muscles that support them. Your core muscles can be identified as the obliques located on the sides of your abdomen, the rectus abdominis which form the fabled six pack abs, the muscles on both sides of the spine keeping it upright, your hip flexors and your transverse muscles that are located inside the abdominal cavity.

During a Pilates workout, you have to concentrate on how you breath, focus on your core muscles and how they contract and the overall quality of your controlled movements, whether you do them with or without an exercise machine. Constant focus and attention on movement and breathing are essential to Pilates. If you take a Pilates class, your instructor should be touting these tenets of exercise all the time.

When Joseph Pilates wrote his first book about these exercises, he coined the term “contrology.” It referred to the harmonization and synchronization of the spirit, mind and body. The original 35 moves he created along with the new ones of today all follow this contrology method.

There is some contention about whether or not Pilates truly is beneficial to the body. The consensus is that it is a wonderful exercise regiment for those people who need low-impact physical activity or something that improves posture and flexibility. Most agree that Pilates is a wonderful complement to other exercise programs such as weightlifting and cardiovascular or aerobic activities.