About Pilates

Developed in the 1920s by the legendary physical trainer and founder of The Pilates Studio, Joseph H. Pilates, The Pilates Method is an exercise system focused on improving flexibility and strength for the total body without building bulk. Not surprisingly, some of the first people to use The Pilates Method were dancers such as Martha Graham and George Balanchine.

The Pilates Method is not just exercise however; it is an education and a discipline that will inform every other type of physical activity in your life. A series of controlled, choreographed movements that engage your body and mind are performed on specifically designed exercise apparatus and are supervised by extensively trained teachers. The Pilates Method of body conditioning promotes physical harmony and balance for people of all ages and physical conditions while providing a refreshing and energizing workout.

Because conditioning sessions are done one-to-one with a teacher or in closely supervised small groups, each session is tailored to your specific needs.

Regardless of your current level of fitness — from sedentary office worker to fitness enthusiast — The Pilates Method can be your primary mode of body conditioning and injury prevention.

Recently discovered by physical therapists, chiropractors and orthopedists, The Pilates Method of body conditioning can also be integrated into rehabilitative exercise and physical therapy programs designed to speed recovery of soft tissue injuries.

Pilates Mat work is a version of the Pilates Method that does not use equipment. Using the entire body to work against gravity, the mat work tones, strengthens and lengthens the body as a whole. Working this way helps the client to achieve better alignment and re-educates the body to work more efficiently.

New students to the Mat work participate in an intensive beginner workshop — 2 times per week for a series of usually 4 weeks. After that, upon instructor approval, a client may participate in other ongoing group classes on a drop-in basis. Clients are urged to try coming 2-3 times a week to group classes and/or privates, in order to improve their level of fitness most efficiently.

Pilates equipment