The Pilates Method is a physical fitness system that was developed in the early 20th century by Joseph Pilates. Joseph Pilates called the method The Art of Contrology, which refers to the way the method encourages the use of the mind to control the muscles. It is an exercise program that focuses on the core postural muscles that help keep the body balanced and are essential to providing support for the spine. In particular, Pilates exercises teach awareness of neutral alignment of the spine and strengthening the deep postural muscles that support this alignment, which are important to help alleviate and prevent back pain.

During World War I, Joseph Pilates, being of German nationality, was interned in England, where he trained police officers beginning in 1912. A trained nurse in his native Germany, he was investigating ways that he could rehabilitate bed-ridden victims of the 1918 influenza pandemic. Thus he created a series of movements that could be practiced within the confines of this controlled environment. The Pilates Reformer (a piece of Pilates equipment) is based on an old hospital bed.

Instead of performing many repetitions of each exercise, Pilates preferred fewer, more precise movements, requiring control and form. He designed more than 500 specific exercises. The most frequent form, called "matwork," involves a series of calisthenic motions performed without weight or apparatus on a padded mat. He believed that mental health and physical health were essential to one another. Pilates created what is claimed to be a method of total body conditioning that emphasizes proper alignment, centering, concentration, control, precision, breathing, and flowing movement (the Pilates Principles) that results in increased flexibility, strength, muscle tone, body awareness, energy, and improved mental concentration. Joseph Pilates also designed five major pieces of unique exercise equipment that he claimed should be used for best results. Although the two components are often taught separately now, the method was always meant to combine both matwork and equipment exercises. A recent development is gravity Pilates. In all forms, the "powerhouse" (abdomen, lower back, and buttocks) is supported and strengthened, enabling the rest of the body to move freely.

Pilates practitioners use their own bodies as "weights" in training, to build strength, and flexibility. This is targeted without a focus on high-powered cardiovascular exercise. Today, Pilates is used in the rehabilitation process by many physical therapists. Pilates is an old approach to movement re-education that is becoming popular in the field of fitness and rehabilitation. The Pilates environment can be used as an assistive environment that optimizes the acquisition of movement with a reduction of destructive forces and can be used to progress individuals through more challenging movements that represent their day-to-day activities. Research and theories in motor learning, biomechanics, and musculoskeletal physiology help support the phenomena experienced by many Pilates-based practitioners; however, the Pilates-based approach needs to be subjected to the rigors of research to better evaluate its efficacy in the field of rehabilitation.

In recent years, many Pilates students have seen important parallels with the Alexander Technique, and the discoveries of F. Matthias Alexander. It has been used to train dancers in flexibility and physical strength. The first official Pilates Studio was opened in New York in 1926. In recent years it has become a popular fitness modality, with many stars attributing their successful weight loss and increased muscle tone to Pilates.

Preserving Pilates Principles

As the technique has grown in popularity through the 1990s, many fitness trainers have begun teaching Pilates without any form of certification or formal training in the technique. Obtaining certification can be confusing, as there are numerous organizations who offer certification in exchange for a fee or at the end of a course they offer. Some practitioners believe the explosion in popularity has thus led to a dilution of the technique as taught by Joseph Pilates and fear it can cause poor results or injury.

An excellent source for information on the Pilates method is the Pilates Method Alliance. This international, not-for-profit organization focuses on preserving the legacy of Joseph H. and Clara Pilates. It is an inclusive organization that embraces the many disciples of Joseph Pilates, who have taken his work and spread it with their own take on it, while adhering to the original Pilates principles. It offers details on the method, news, and annual conference information, as well as serving as a marketing channel for the members listed in the international member databases.

Limitations and Criticisms

Pilates is not designed to be a complete physical fitness discipline. For example, in its more original forms, it does not supply effective cardiovascular training.

Pilates largely avoids high impact, high power output, and heavy muscular and skeletal loading. As a result, Pilates is not as effective as other training methods at building maximum strength.

Some doctors have suggested that medical advice be sought by those who have, or who have risk factors for, conditions such as osteogenesis imperfecta, Osteomalacia, osteoporosis, and Paget's disease, before choosing Pilates over other strength exercises.

The marketing claims of some Pilates instructors have been criticised on diverse grounds. Although it is sometimes claimed that Pilates is a rehabilitation technique, or was derived from physical therapies, its methods do not conform well to current physical therapeutic knowledge and doctrine. Although it is sometimes claimed that Pilates avoids the danger of hypertrophic muscles, hypertrophy is not the end result of most strength training, and Pilates cannot avoid hypertrophy from other causes such as disease. A frequent claim made in favour of Pilates is that it produces longer and leaner muscles than other training techniques; but skeptics point out that there is no evidence to support this claim, and any low-impact, high-repetition strength training will result in slender muscles. Skeptics also say that occasional claims that Pilates can make a person taller are refuted by measurements of Pilates practitioners. Critics also point out that modern Pilates instructors sometimes make use of exercises that Joseph Pilates abhorred. Critics charge that this decreases the authenticity of Pilates and suggest that the term Pilates is being used deceptively for marketing advantage.

Historical claims about Pilates are also subject to criticism. Critics allege that Pilates deliberately associated his New York studio with dancers for marketing reasons, and profited enormously from the association of Martha Graham and George Balanchine with his methods, rather than the reverse. Joseph Pilates' emphasis on a smaller number of repetitions of precisely controlled movements requiring strength and coordination is sometimes said to have been pioneering. But this emphasis reflects principles previously advanced by Eugene Sandow, Vladislav Krayevsky, and others. Similarly, the equipment Joseph Pilates invented is sometimes said to be distinctive or unique, but many of the pieces appear to be derived from pre-existing examples:

• The "high chair" is similar to the pommel;
• The "reformer" appears to be a modified rowing trainer;
• The "pedipull" appears to be a modified pulley machine;
• The "Cadillac" appears to be derived from gymnasts' parallel and horizontal bars;
• The "low chair" is a staking pommel;
• The "spine corrector barrel" is a low level pommel horse.