Whilst millions of people do Pilates everyday, many of them probably do not know much about the origins of this very on trend form of exercise. Pilates may not date back as far as yoga, however its history is incredibly interesting and involves a very confident and quirky yet caring German. Here's 10 fun facts for you about how Pilates came to be a worldwide phenomenon.
1. Joseph Pilates was born in Mönchengladbach (a little town near Düsseldorf, Germany), on December 9th 1883. In his early childhood Joseph was a very sickly child; he suffered from asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever. He was often bullied at school and was too sick and weak to fight back or run away. As a result of these early experiences, Joe made fitness and health his life journey and tried to help as many people as possible through Pilates to improve their lifestyle.
2. Joe designed his fitness regime of Pilates with the image of the 'classical Greek ideal of a man who is balanced equally in body, mind and spirit'.
3. Mr Pilates was a Hospital "Nurse-Physiotherapist" during World War 1 and was posted to an internment camp. Joseph requested that he be given permission to help the sick patients with exercise. He was told that bed rest was prescribed to all patients but that he could "do anything you like with them, as long as they stay in bed". Hence Joe removed the bed springs and connected them to the bed posts to make the apparatus now known as the 'Cadillac' or 'Trapeze'. Joseph was said to have a very caring and helpful disposition with his patients. His exercise regime must have done some good, because when the 1918 flu epidemic swept the world and killed millions (and many from internment camps as these places were optimal for the spreading of illnesses), not one of Joseph's patients became ill!
4. After the war Joe trained with the Military Police as well as continuing to instruct Pilates with personal clients. Mr Pilates was asked to train with the New German Army in 1923, however he refused as he was unhappy with the new political direction that Germany was heading towards. He had several relatives living in the USA, who persuaded him to travel over to America.
5. Pilates was originally called Contrology. Joseph Pilates came up with this name for his exercise regime as he intended the practice to be all about control of the body, mind and muscles. However his initial clients and the general public started calling his fitness regime 'Pilates' and it stuck!
6. The very first Pilates studio was opened by Joseph & his wife Clara in NYC in the 1920s. The husband & wife took over a boxing gym on 8th Avenue, which was located in the same building as several dance studios and rehearsal areas. Due to this very close proximity of the dancers, the exercise regime of Pilates became fundamental in the life, rehab and training of dancers!
7. Mr Pilates was said to have a 'rough but kindly manner' with his clients.
8. While Joseph was considered very healthy, he was well known for his love of cigars, whiskey and women! He attended many parties in NYC and was often seen running around the city in the middle of winter in his skimpy little training shorts (see photos above)!
9. Joseph Pilates died at 83 years old in New York City and his obituary read like an advertisment for Pilates! Pilates is described as "‘a white-manned lion with steel blue eyes and mahogany skin, and as limber in his 80's as a teenager!"
10. As Joseph liked to say, he was sadly '"fifty years ahead of my time". Pilates really took off in the late 1980's and has become increasingly more popular since then. Once considered the workout of purely dancers and the elite, Pilates is now an incredibly accessible form of exercise and is a form of physiotherapy. Millions of people practise Pilates everyday and those numbers are only set to increase as many more people discover the amazing benefits of this form of exercise!
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Info adapted from http://www.contrology-pilates-method.com/history_joe_pilates.asp, images from http://www.mylocalpilates.com/uploads/2/4/0/4/24042723/6200530_orig.png and http://static1.squarespace.com/static/55160801e4b05c72e7f10bf6/55172c60e4b05ede7c5afc3c/55172c8ee4b0413cd5e7351a/1427582094645/jopilates.jpg
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