Pilates and Yoga are the most popular forms of exercise in this day and age. Credit: Daniel Calamonte , CC BY-SA 3.0/WikipediaInspired by Greek heritage and philosophies, Pilates is one of the most well-known and popular exercise regimes in the world, whose roots began over 100 years ago. It aims to evenly distribute the strength in the body by emphasizing one’s core fortitude to improve fitness and wellbeing.
Greek legacy
It was Joseph Hubertus Pilates, a German physical trainer, who is credited with developing the Pilates method in the early 20th century. He was born in Germany in 1880, outside of a small town near Dusseldorf. His father, however, whose last name was originally “Pilatu,” was born in Greece and was an enthusiastic gymnast, while his German-born mother observed the tenets of naturopathy.
He was a small child for his age and suffered from asthma, rickets, and rheumatic fever throughout his youth. As he grew older, Pilates became interested in the classical Greek principles of the “ideal man” – who balanced body, mind, and spirit in equal parts.
Pilates taught himself anatomy, bodybuilding, wrestling, yoga, gymnastics, and martial arts, and by the age of 14, had cured himself of his various ailments. He had achieved such physical perfection that he was actually asked to pose for anatomical charts!
As a young man, Pilates believed that bad posture and inefficient breathing were the roots of poor health, when compounded by the modern lifestyle. A study of these problems led him to design a set of unique exercises that helped to correct a muscular imbalance. The original six principles upon which his theories were based dealt with concentration, control, center, flow, precision, and breathing.
