Joseph Pilates and Who He Was

Joseph Pilates was the man who invented and promoted the Pilates method of fitness. He was born in the year of 1883 in Germany. His father was one of the best gymnasts of the time and won prizes for the outstanding job that he did. His mother worked in neuropathy. All and all, Pilates was a sickly child. He suffered from a number of ailments such as the rickets, asthma, and rheumatic fever. He dedicated his entire life to improving his overall physical strength. He studied yoga, Zen, body building, gymnastics, and even skied.

When he was 14, he was fit enough to pose for anatomical charts that were used. He believed that poor health led to bad posture and inefficient breathing. He quickly devised a plan of exercises and training techniques to use to correct these issues. He engineered the equipment that was used for these exercise techniques as well. He learned how to use, tune, and even the specifications of the exercise plan to teach the exercise methods he developed to others properly.

He was originally a gymnast, bodybuilder, and diver. He earned a living in 1912 when he moved to England and performed in circuses, professional boxer, self defense trainer in police schools across the area, and Scotland Yard. He developed Contrology while being interned during World War I in a concentration camp. He studied the movements of yoga, animals, and other fitness routines during this time. He trained other inmates the techniques of his exercise and a lot of the inmates made it through the camps due to good physical shape.

He returned to Germany after the war. He trained others with his exercise and trained police officers as well. He did not want to train the members of the German army and immigrated to the US in 1925. He then opened a studio that taught Contrology which used the mind to control muscles throughout the body. This focuses on the core postural muscles that keep the body balanced and erect. He taught the awareness of breath and the alignment of the spine. This was to help strengthen the torso and abs.

They then took in dancers who needed rehabilitation. This was to strengthen their dance through the Pilates method of exercise. Many of the great dancers such as Martha Graham and George Balanchine were sent to them. Pilates wrote several books such as Your Health and Return to Life through Contrology. He became a prolific inventor of sorts with over 26 patents. They had many people who continued to teach their methods as Pilates became older. They were learned firsthand by Pilates himself, and continued to pass it through generations. Joseph Pilates died at the age of 84 in NY in 1967.

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