Pilates may seem like a fairly recent phenomenon but it has been around for almost a century. It was back in the 1920s that German born Joseph Pilates and his wife Clara emigrated to America and subsequently opened their gym in New York City. Using what was then called ‘contrology’, they instructed people – primarily dancers recovering from injury – to perform concentrated, slow movements to work their deep, inner muscles.
Initially using specifically designed exercise equipment to help rehabilitation after injury, the novel techniques have gradually been adapted and became known as the pilates method after Joseph’s death in 1967. It was dancer Alan Herdman who, after studying at the studio and realising the potential the techniques had to prevent and treat dance injuries, brought pilates to the UK in 1970, where he has been teaching the method ever since.