What is Pilates really?
- Natania M
- Oct 18, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: Oct 26, 2024
‘Pilates, it’s like Yoga but not spiritual right?’ ‘I’ve heard it was originally a torture machine.’‘It’s going to make me thinner right?’ ‘I’m not flexible enough to do it!’
Pilates in a nutshell
These are some of the things I hear a lot. So, it’s time to set the record straight. Pilates, originally called Contrology by its German inventor, Joseph Pilates, is a series of restorative and maintenance exercises designed to keep the body in optimal condition, enabling one to overcome injury as well as prevent it through better coordination and finite muscular control. Simultaneously it will also begin to strengthen one's body. It is not a weight loss program, a muscle building work out, nor a stretch class. The original exercises stretch back prior to 1918 when Joseph was working on himself. During the First World War when he was interned in England (he happened to be performing there during the outbreak of World War I, he was not a solider), he worked with others, including injured war veterans. After returning to Germany, he eventually moved to New York, refusing to train the Nazis when asked.
“Contrology is not a system of haphazard exercises designed to produce only bulging muscles, it develops the body uniformly, corrects posture, restores vitality, invigorates the mind and elevates the spirit.”
When Joseph Pilates passed away in 1967, he left this earth like many of the greats do- a pioneer, a visionary, who never saw his works receive the widespread attention he had hoped for. He had even written letters to the president but, in the end, he only had a local dedicated following of professional dancers and other members of New York society.
These people however, continued his legacy. It was taken to Los Angeles and the rest is history. Pilates became popular being sold as a ‘burn, lengthen and make your muscles longer’. I remember it coming out on television in the 90s when I was a kid. This is unfortunately, mostly a false sales pitch. Pilates done right, however, is still one of the best things you can add to your regime or have as your only regime if need be. That is Pilates in a nutshell for those who don’t like reading long spiels. If you want to continue on a deep dive with me, read on.
Who was Joseph Pilates and Why did he invent Contrology?
“Breathing is the first act of life and the last. Our very life depends on it.”
Joseph Pilates was born in Germany in 1883. As a child of a naturopath mother and gymnast father, he was influenced from the beginning. However, he was a sickly child and often bullied, even losing sight in his left eye at the age of 5 from trauma. He turned to the gym and by his teen years had developed a god-like physique. He studied yoga, martial arts and eventually worked in the circus.
While in England performing, the first world war broke out and he was interned there. He trained anyone who was willing, utilising beer barrels as part of his equipment and for the bed ridden, creating resistance exercisers by strapping springs to the head and foot boards. When the 1918 pandemic broke out, no one under his care died.
After the war, Joseph returned to Germany where he further refined his ideas, calling his system Contrology. Breath work was a huge part of this as well as precise even control of the body. He had some success in Germany, but when asked to train the army, he packed his bags and headed for New York in 1925.
In New York he opened a studio on Eighth Avenue with his wife Clara at the same address as the New York City Ballet. He published two books Pilates, Your Health and Return to Life through Contrology, and had a decent following from professional dancers and then society alike. When he worked with someone, he ‘focused on only you. You weren’t just a client on his list, he also didn’t care who you were. His focus was so intense that if you wanted to work even a little you would stay but, if you didn’t want to be there, you would run out fast… He was focused on your body working evenly.’*
Joseph was convinced happiness came from health. He saw the rise of the big breakfast in America and growing sedentary lifestyle and wrote letters to the president to warn of the growing health problems the world would face. He wanted all of the world to be learning his system. He is quoted as saying, “a few well-designed movements, properly performed in a balanced sequence, are worth hours of sloppy calisthenics or forced contortion.” He clearly cared about others health and it became his life’s work. While he didn’t live to see his dream spread as far as he desired, today, thanks to his wife Clara who helped his first students, his legacy lives on.
What is Pilates today and how will it benefit me?
Pilates today has evolved to incorporate new ideas as science learns more about the body. Pilates now expands on Josephs original teachings- remember he was born in 1883 so science has come a long way since then, finally caught up to him and surpassing him. However, the basic exercises remain the same as does the focus. Pilates, focuses on whole body movement, utilising every part of the body in a single class. Most exercises in Pilates are designed to focus on supporting muscles and engaging muscles you might have forgotten about.
Think of it like an oven baking bread and the fibres of the bread. Our body, as the bread – we often focus on the crust, use the crust and care about the general texture of the bread but don’t think about how we bake it or even mix it in the first place and our fibres are often too hard, soft or stale and that in turn, does affect our crust. Pilates, as an oven and even a baker, creates that good bread texture by mixing the ingredients the right way, teaching us how to and then baking it in the oven at the right temperature to make our bread fibres strong but soft. Pilates doesn’t care about what your crust looks like. However, many Pilates teachers simply by observing your crust, can tell you what’s going on with the fibres of your bread.
In Mat Pilates, the body works with its own strength, as its own support. It occasionally has the help of a few props. Any Mat class will work in some of several positions: Standing, All Fours, Prone (Face Down), Side Lying, Supine (Face up), Sitting. Each of these positions has varying exercises that’s goals are flexion, extension, coordination or strength of a particular muscle group. Most exercises will focus on several muscle groups in one go and also more than one goal.
Pilates should:
Help you have better coordination
Prevent injury or decrease pain or support an already injured area
Improve your muscle tone
Help with stiffness in essential areas
Keep your bare basic fitness in check and assist you in your fitness goals
Help you regulate your breathing
Make you more aware of your own body
Pilates cannot:
Lengthen your muscles. Sorry but the ‘lengthen your muscles’ is a clever marketing skill. It could give the appearance of it if you start working them for the first time. You may get a slightly different shape depending on the style of exercises you do BUT the shape of muscle formation is genetic.
Make you into a contortionist- unless a class is including a major stretch component, in which case, it is a hybrid Pilates class.
Give you long term injuries- unless a student is doing something very wrong, already has an injury or, a teacher isn’t teaching safely -more on that in another blog.
Pilates is Not:
Based from torture. That is definitely incorrect.
‘Like Yoga but not spiritual.’ While today, there are cross over moves incorporated and Joseph Pilates did study and was influence by yoga, a Pilates class (unless its Yogalates) is different from a yoga class. It is not without its spiritual component either, which is found in a focused calm mind and controlled breathing. However, it’s origins are not religious.
Pilates is for everyone. You do not have to:
Be Flexible
Able to do handstands
Be Fit before you start.
Be Unfit- yes Pilates is even for fit bunnies! I actually started when I was dancing full time.
Be a Health Guru. Know that,
“Change happens through movement and movement heals.”
Now that you know so much about Pilates, why not give it a go? Find a studio near you with a good reputation or join me online. If you’re in NSW, Australia, you can enjoy an in-person session. Regardless, I hope this has helped give you a better understanding of Pilates and what to expect, that you feel armed with the confidence knowledge brings and are enthusiastic to move!
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