What İs Pilates? Who is Joseph Hubertus Pilates?

WHAT IS PILATES?

Pilates is an exercise system developed by Joseph Pilates to strengthen muscles, increase flexibility and improve the overall health of the body. Exercises are performed on mats or with specially designed equipment.  The Pilates system includes exercises suitable for different activities to work every part of the body.  Emerging in the early 20th century, pilates was a system ahead of its time and attracted great attention by the modern people of the 21st century.  In the USA, approximately 10 million people are doing pilates today and this number is increasing every year.

WHY WAS PILATES SO POPULAR?

The main purpose of Pilates exercises is to provide mind-body integrity.  For an efficient workout, every exercise focuses on breathing and correct movement.  Pilates reduces stress by strengthening the core of the body and increasing balance and coordination.  Exercises are suitable for all age levels as they are done safely and in a controlled manner.  Pilates enables us to know our body better and we feel its benefits in our daily lives.  Pilates is used today in fitness clubs, private studios, rehabilitation centers and hospitals to improve the health of everyone, from people with various ailments to professional athletes.  Pilates continues to facilitate the mobility of people in line with the needs of people as the participants increase day by day.

HISTORY OF PILATES

Joseph Hubertus Pilates was born in Germany in the 1880s.  He had rheumatic fever, asthma, rickets and respiratory problems in his childhood.  He began to pursue a way of strengthening his body and mind to improve his own health.  While trying to achieve this goal, he explored yoga and zen meditation and engaged in fencing, boxing, wrestling and gymnastics.  As we entered the 20th century, Germany had all the possibilities for these discoveries;  Many physiologists, dancers and motion scientists were continuing their work here. Joe was in England as a boxer when World War 1 began.  During the war, he was detained in an internment camp near Lanchester and kept there throughout the war.  During his stay in the camp, the exiled people exercised every day.  According to Joe, during the flu epidemic between 1918-1919, none of those who participated in his exercise program and followed his regime program were affected by this epidemic.  Noticing Joe's success, the camp manager assigned him to the hospital on the Isle Of Man.  He exercised every day for 30 patients he was responsible for. These were the times when western medicine was just beginning;  The treatment method that could be applied to patients other than morphine and surgery was almost nonexistent.

who participated in Joe's exercise program soon began to improve and did not catch any of the epidemics that killed many.  As a result of regular work Joe created the first exercise machine;  It was difficult to work with 30 patients every day, and Joe created the first cadiilac by placing springs on his patient beds, so his patients started to exercise themselves under Joe's supervision.  Returning to Germany after the camp, Joe began operating the Nazi police force.  However, Joe, who was dissatisfied with working with the Nazis, decided to go to the USA by sea and met his wife Clara during this journey.  Clara was a nurse and the right partner for Joe;  Because Clara, who worked with Joe in the studio every day, was helping him a lot by dealing with people he didn't want to employ.

Moving to New York in 1926, Joe and Clara rented an apartment on 8th Street in the same building as the New York City Ballet and opened the first pilates studio, where they began to apply Joe's method of control.  Joe took care of his patients all his life, but the biggest impact was Ted Shawn, who worked on the dance committee, and Ruth St.  Denis, George Balanchine and many more injured dancers.  Joe was an inventor who was constantly trying to create new exercise equipment.  He designed the Reformer, Wunda Chair, Cadillac, Ladder Barrel, Spine Corrector and many more excellent equipment.  He later modified these equipment, which he designed for himself, according to his patients.  Many of the equipment Joe's first built is still operational now.  Joe, who wanted his method of presupposing the integrity of mind and body to be recognized on a wide range from military training to primary schools, achieved this.