Its creator, Joseph H Pilates, was born in Germany. As a child he suffered from several illnesses such as severe asthma and rheumatic fever. These illnesses were an impediment for him to practice the appropriate sport of a child of his age. Still, Mr. Pilates spent his life to study the human body and how to achieve a healthy and strong physical level.

He had such a strong determination that at the age of 14 he was a body model and practiced deep sea diving, ski, gymnastics, weight lifting and boxing later in his life.

Being a First World War prisoner he spent time and effort developing ideas regarding physical health, instructing some of his cellmates with exercises that included areas such as yoga and movements that would mimic animal movements.

Mr. Pilates became a nurse specializing in physical rehabilitation of war soldiers using different techniques of rehabilitation. Besides this routine exercises that he, himself invented, he created a series of beds with ropes and poleis so the patients could exercise their muscles. This was the beginning of a series of different interesting exercise machines that today are known as Reformers with the Pilates System. During the 1918 epidemic outbreak those patients that were instructed by pilates were able to survive their illnesses.

He became a US resident in 1926 and lived in a small studio apartment in Manhattan where he instructed his method to athletes and ballet dancers. From then his method and name became a popular without limits. His method became widely used and popular in places such as Europe, Brazil, Chile, Milan and Canada.

Today, celebrities such as Madonna, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Rod Stewart, Isabelle Adjani, Jodie Foster, Kate Moss, Martha Graham, George Bailanchine, Sharon Stone, Brad Pitt, Joaquin Cortes, Leonardo Di Caprio, Melanie Griffith, Katherine Hephburn, Sogourney Weaver are amongst those who practice pilates.

Who teaches the Pilates Method? This method is applied and taught by physical therapists, chiropractors, traumatologists, orthopedists, yoga and Thai Chi instructors, Body therapists, Dance Instructors, choreographers and fitness instructors.

Why is this a multidisciplinary discipline? When it comes to shape their bodies, Pilates is a workout discipline geared towards people who want to focus on non-aggressive physical routines without any abrupt workout (abrupt movement or bouncing).