Joseph Pilates was born in 1883, near Dusseldorf Germany. His father was a gymnast and mother a naturopath who believed in stimulating the body to heal itself without the use of drugs. Joseph was a sickly child effected by rickets, asthma and rheumatic fever. He was determined to overcome these ailments and self educate himself in human anatomy. He did gymnastics, body building and martial arts. His physique was as such that he was posing at the age of 14 for anatomy charts. Joseph believed that a modern lifestyle, bad posture and inefficient breathing were the cause of ill health. The answer was to design a series of unique exercises that helped correct muscular imbalances and improve posture, coordination, balance, strength and flexibility. As well as increased breathing capacity and organ function.

This form of exercise is one of the most popular today as it is designed to help people of all fitness levels get toned and lean muscles. It came into the mainstream about a decade ago. Many people use pilates to prevent injuries as it is low impact and as part for their recovery when getting back into exercise following an injury.  Pilates also emphasises posture and helps you improve balance and flexibility it requires concentration and focus, because you move your body through precise ranges of motion, pilates lengthens and stretches all the major muscle groups in the body in a balanced fashion.it requires concentration in finding a centre point to control your body through movement each exercise has a prescribed placement, rhythm and breathing pattern .the workout consists of a variety of exercise sequences that are performed in low repetitions, usually five to ten times, over a session of 50-90 minutes. Mat work and resistance equipment are used as well as own body weight. The Pilates method is taught to suit each person and class type and the exercises are regularly re-evaluated to ensure that they are appropriate to those in the class.