Joseph Hubertus Pilates (1883-1967) was German born, but most of his work was developed in the US where he lived from 1926 to his death. Perhaps because his own childhood was beset by poor health, he became passionate about all aspects of human health, and was interested in everything from body-building to the martial arts and yoga. He was particularly fascinated by the importance of the coordination of body, mind and spirit. He was always learning, always exploring, and over the years he invented an array of apparatus and exercises designed to help people improve their health in a method he named ‘Contrology’, and his life was spent on a mission to transmit this passion and belief to others. Many of the sometimes bizarre-looking inventions that he devised are still widely in use in Pilates studios around the globe, and the majority of his beliefs have held true – he was even heard to say during his own lifetime that “I am a man 50 years ahead of my time”!

Following his death in 1967, the 1970s turned out to be a boom decade for Pilates as the Hollywood celebrities discovered the method in Beverly Hills. As is still the case today, once celebrities start to endorse something, the media generally takes note, and by the late 1980s, Pilates entered the fitness mainstream, no longer the preserve of the elite. Celebrities of course still endorse and credit Pilates for giving them their toned and lean physiques, but it has also become obligatory practice for many athletes training and competing at high levels in many disciplines ranging from ballet to Olympic level sport. Having hit and stayed firmly in the mainstream, Pilates has become hugely popular worldwide for any and all of us looking to improve our health, get fit and strong and feel great in our bodies.