Pilates is a 'physical fitness system' developed by Joseph Pilates, born in Germany in 1880. 

As a child, Joseph Pilates had various health concerns; rickets, asthma, and rheumatic fever. To overcome his health issues, he devised his own set of exercises. He did this by drawing upon his own life experiences; as a wartime fitness instructor, time in the circus, and influences from the world of ballet. His guiding philosophy was that achieving good health means that the whole body, mind, and spirit, must be involved.

One of the outcomes of his work was the development of a series of 34 mat-based exercises. Some of the exercises use specially designed equipment such as the ‘Reformer’ or ‘Wunda Chair’ and others are mat based. The 34 exercises now form the basis of Mat-based Pilates classes.

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All Pilates exercises can be done at various levels from easy to the more complex and most have preparation exercises to enable you to build up the required muscle strength and coordination to be able to perform them. 

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Once the lower levels of the exercises have been done correctly you should then progress and add more difficulty as appropriate.

All exercises can be adapted or props used such as blocks or towels to enable correct alignment, enabling everyone to exercise safely and correctly.

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Joseph Pilates' original work can be seen in his book ‘Return to Life Through Contrology.’ 

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