Why is pilates such a big deal? After decades of being considered an elite exercise method, Pilates suddenly burst onto the scene and has since taken its place among the most popular forms of exercise. What is the exciting story behind the beginnings of Pilates? In our three-part article we give you a brief overview!

The story of a sickly little boy

Joseph Hubertus Pilates was born in Mönchengladbach, Germany, in 1883. As a child, Joe struggled with asthma and other health problems. His sickly childhood soon prompted him to turn to exercise and start living a healthier life.

How did Pilates get started?

As a teenager he spent a lot of time studying different training programmes. He was fascinated by the classical Greek ideal of man, based on the balance of human body, mind and spirit. Joseph soon began to develop his own training programme based on the Greek philosophy just mentioned.

As a young adult, Joe was not nearly as sickly as he was as a child. He fell in love with sports so much that he actively skied, scuba dived, boxed and even tried gymnastics.

The road to England

In 1912, Joseph moved to England, where he gave self-defence training to Scotland Yard detectives. Following the outbreak of the First World War, Joe was arrested for being of German origin. During his imprisonment, Joe continued to work on his training programme, and also taught his fellow prisoners the technique of locomotion. He attached springs to the bedside of bedridden patients, which allowed in-patients to engage in exercise. The resistance provided by the kicks was a rudimentary innovation that later led to the creation of Pilates machines. In 1918, England was hit by a severe Spanish flu epidemic that claimed thousands of lives, but none of the people Joe exercised made ill. According to the father of Pilates, this proved that his method was effective.

Back in Germany

After his release, Joseph returned to Germany. The movement technique he developed gained a growing following among dancers. This was particularly due to the dancer-choreographer Rudolf von Laban, who was the inventor of the dance writing system still used today. The dancer Hanya Holm relied on Pilates exercises to develop the Holm Technique, which is named after her. When German officers asked Joe to give training sessions to soldiers, Pilates decided to leave Germany for good.

Read on to find out how Pilates came to the United States of America.