The Origins - Who Was Joseph Pilates?

Joseph Pilates was born in Germany in a town called Mönchengladbach in 1883. 

As a young man, Joseph Pilates was a sickly child. He suffered from rheumatic fever, rickets, and asthma. He was so affected, in fact, that his parents were told he may die as a child. Defiantly, Joseph Pilates did not give up or wallow in his illness.

Instead, Joseph Pilates dedicated himself to getting his body back in shape through physical training. He also went outside to exercise and focused on improving his breathing to better his asthma.

At the age of 19, Joseph Pilates took his newfound fitness skills on the road. He began making a living as a circus performer and professional boxer in England.

World War I was about to begin, and as a German, this meant Joseph Pilates would have to go into a British enemies citizens internment camp on English territory. At the camp, Joseph Pilates assisted others in recuperating from injuries. This was done through therapeutic exercises. He removed and attached bed springs to the beds the soldiers were lying in. In this way, he created resistance machines using the bed springs that the ailing soldiers could work out with.

After the war, Joseph moved back to Germany to continue his work on various types of physical exercises. This included working as a physical trainer for the Hamburg military police for a short time where he focused on self defence and other exercises. Before World War II, he left Germany for the United States. Joseph met Clara, his future wife, on the passenger ship that brought him there.

Together, he and his wife Clara (a nurse) opened a fitness studio in New York City in the 1920's. It specialised in what they called Contrology, a type of fitness they invented.

Contrology (later to become “Pilates”), focused on core strength, alignment of the spine, and awareness of the breath. Their studio became famous throughout New York and trained those who are known as the Pilates elders. The Pilates taught together until the 1960's.