Understanding Pilates

I know a lot about Pilates, but it wasn’t always that way. Back when I first was introduced to it, Pilates was enjoying a small surge in popularity, but most people didn’t know what it actually was. Fast forward to today, and Pilates seems to be everywhere. There are many studios in my small city now, but twenty years ago, I think there was just one (which I ended up working at). As knowledge of Pilates has grown, so too has my own understanding of it. 

My Introduction to Pilates

In 1999, I got a free Pilates DVD off the top of a baby formula container. I had heard of it, but thought it was just another workout class similar to yoga. Around that time, I also got two balls that you could fill with sand, rice, or water that were meant for Pilates. So, Pilates was gaining popularity then, but it was a few more years before I got to try it; we didn’t have a DVD player, so I couldn’t even play the free DVD!

Then, in 2003 the gym I worked at started running a Pilates class. I peeked in once in a while, and it looked like a stretchy workout. I assumed it was like any other fitness class, where you had a bunch of exercises to choose from, and you put them together in any order you wanted. I started going to the class after I finished teaching my own step class, and my opinion didn’t change. Then I was asked to teach it myself. I was nervous, but knew how to lead safe, effective classes, so I gave it a try. At the same time, I started to seek out a Pilates course to better inform my teaching. 

Starting My Training

Lucky for me, I found a mat course taught by a classically trained Pilates teacher who owned a lovely Pilates studio and gave her mat trainees a window into the world of being a comprehensively trained pilates teacher. There were many teachers in my course who completed the mat training and that was the end of their Pilates education, but I knew that I wanted more. I could see that this “mat thing” was barely scraping the surface of what Pilates was. That’s where it all started, and I continue to keep educating myself because I love the whole Pilates method. 

Dispelling Pilates Myths

When I started doing Pilates at my gym, I had no idea that Pilates was a whole system of exercises with various apparatuses to support them. Most people at the time didn’t either! Now, with Pilates franchises, various studios, and social media, people know that Pilates exists – but it’s also created some confusion and misunderstandings about it, too. 

For example, I sometimes have people ask if b.Pilates & Fitness teaches “Reformer Pilates”. The answer is that we teach clients to do Pilates, and yes, the reformer is part of that, but Pilates includes all the apparatuses. Many reformer-only studios are opening up these days, with large group classes where they incorporate new “flows” for each class. This isn’t true Pilates, which you will find in classical or contemporary studios. This is where you’ll find classes that incorporate the mat and various apparatuses, depending on the needs of the clients that day – just as Joseph Pilates intended.

The Pilates Method

That’s right – Pilates was invented by a man named Joseph Pilates, and his first studio opened in New York City 100 years ago. Before he moved to New York, he first created what we now call the mat work. He then started inventing the various apparatuses to help support clients who had injuries, weaknesses, or who couldn’t find the connections he was wanting them to find on the mat alone. He built a system of exercises on all of the apparatuses that supported each other. The reformer is the main apparatus, but all of them are there to be used to help our students to build strength, find control and awareness, improve mobility and flexibility, and then go back to the mat work where they should start to see progress in their movement abilities.  

Joe called his method of exercise Contrology. The name change happened because his students would say that they were going to Pilates’, as in going to see Joseph Pilates for their workout.  

Pilates Still Keeps Me Moving

Pilates is considered corrective exercise. If you look at it, it moves your body in all the natural ways that it should be able to move. Joseph felt that the posture of most people was poor and that many people moved haphazardly. He believed that if they learned to be more focused and controlled, they would move better through life.

I agree! Pilates made me very aware of the imbalances that I was creating in my body by teaching a lot of repetitive movements in aerobics and spin classes. Carrying three babies on my hip for years also didn’t do me any favours. Since those early days, Pilates has helped me to run better, recover from injuries, and keep me moving well. And when I slack off from my practice for a while, my body sure lets me know it. I plan on doing, teaching, and learning about Pilates for years to come because it’s made such a positive difference in how I feel every day.