Pilates Basics

Ok, the pilates basics should be pretty easy to conquer, right? After all they are just the basics! Well, little did I know when I first started learning the basics of Pilates that I had my work cut out for me. I have exercised off and on my entire life and never really considered myself to be out of shape…that is, until I decided to take up Pilates and I realized really how truly pathetic in shape I was. No kidding, this new exercise plan is kicking my rear…literally.

Pilates basics are built around the principle teaching of Joseph H. Pilates, the father of this method of exercise. It was originally designed more than 80 years ago as a series of exercises that put incredibly intense concentration on your abdominal muscles , especially those deep in the belly. The exercises are meant to help you create incredibly strong abdominal muscles that will also help you improve your balance and coordination…not to mention the lovely, flat abdomen you will end up with as a result.

Joseph originally developed the basics of Pilates during World War I when he worked to help rehabilitate bed bound patients recovering in an England hospital where he worked as a nurse. He wanted to help those patients to recover as quickly as possible and since they were bed bound, he simply attached springs to their bed’s mattress so the patients could pull and push against the spring for resistance. Of course, this helped the patients to regain their strength. What a fantastically simple idea!

He also brought Pilates basics with him when he moved to New York City in the 1920s. Some of his first USA customers were dancers who had been injured and were desperate to recover and get back to the dance floor. He helped them to work out using the Pilates Reformer, which was a bed like contraption that featured a horizontal sliding platform with springs that could be adjusted so that the resistance would vary. Doesn’t that sound a lot like the idea he used to help the injured soldiers recover?

Pilates basics are really just that simple. Even the practice of Pilates today goes back to the original exercises designed by Joseph all those decades ago. Brilliant!

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