What is Pilates

The Pilates Method was designed in the early 20th century by Joseph and his wife Clara Pilates and is now recognized as a widely effective practice around the world. It is a unique system of body conditioning that includes strengthening with stretching. Joseph Pilates created spring based equipment that is used in conjunction with the mat work which can be done on the floor. Joseph set up the first official Pilates Studio in New York City after immigrating to the United States from Germany in 1926, and his work quickly became coveted by
dancers and stage performers, including choreographer George Balanchine and his dance company.
Today Pilates is offered in hospitals, prescribed by medical professionals for rehabilitation, and used in the training
curriculum for professional athletes in most all sports now.

* Improve Core Strength
* Cross train, loose weight and sculpt your body
* Alleviate pain
* Prevent injury
* Improve flexibility and posture
* Improve range of motion in joints
* Improve your golf game, yoga practice, or sport of choice
* Safely stay in shape before and after a pregnancy

While Pilates draws from many diverse exercise styles running the gamut from Chinese
acrobatics to yoga, there are certain inherent ruling principles that bring all these elements together under the Pilates Name:

Concentration - the key element to connecting your mind and body. It is your mind that wills your body into action.

Control - Joseph Pilates built his method on the idea of muscle control, meaning no sloppy, haphazard movements.

Centering - The idea that our outer extremities move not independently but from our core; the abdomen, lower back,
hips and buttocks - what's called the "powerhouse" in Pilates.

Flow - A focus on the grace of the motions, each excersise is meant to have a certain dynamic rhythm
and each excersise flows from one to the next.

Breath - Breathing is the first act of life and the last, so it is imperative to learn to breathe correctly.
Pilates cleanses the bloodstream though oxygenation.

Precision - Every movement in Pilates has a purpose. Every instruction is vitally important to the success of the whole.
Rather than lots of reps like doing 100 sit-ups at the gym, in Pilates we focus on form so that five or ten
abdominal exercises done correctly feels like 100.