"You will feel better in 10 sessions, look better in 20 sessions, and have a completely new body in 30 sessions."
– Joseph Pilates

Pilates is a system of body conditioning developed by German born, Joseph H. Pilates nearly 100 years ago. Childhood health issues led to Joe’s interest in exercise and wellness. He became a boxer and a gymnast to gain strength and improve his well being.

During World War I he was interned in a camp on the Isle of Man and sent to work as a nurse. He devised a system of pulleys that were attached to hospital beds, which assisted in the rehabilitation of injured veterans. He later immigrated to the United States where he formalized his fitness regime.

Joseph Pilates believed that mental and physical health are interrelated. He developed a system of exercises, originally named Contrology, which was intended to strengthen the human mind and body. In 1926, Joe and his wife, Clara, opened a fitness studio in New York where New York City Ballet dancers, among others, trained. By the 1960s it was extremely popular for rehabilitating and strengthening dancers throughout the US.

Joseph Pilates died in 1967 at age 87. He left us a balanced fitness system of over 500 exercises on the mat and equipment of his own design. Today, people of all ages and fitness levels worldwide practice his method.

“Contrology develops the body uniformly, corrects wrong postures, restores physical vitality, invigorates the mind and elevates the spirit.”
- Joseph Pilates