Frequently Asked Questions

What is Pilates?

Pilates (pronounced Pil-LAH-tees) is a system of physical development named after its inventor, Joseph H. Pilates. More than mere exercise, Pilates is an integrated approach to movement that, when correctly performed, uniformly develops the body. The method's exercises safely develop strength, flexibility, and endurance, without adding the bulk that are often the result of conventional exercises.

Who was Joe Pilates?

Joseph H. Pilates, born in 1880 in Germany, was a sickly child who devoted himself to overcome his physical limitations. After studying Yoga, meditation, and the exercise regimens of the ancient Greeks and Romans, by age 14 he had mastered gymnastics, skiing, and skin diving.

At the age of 32 he traveled to England where he became a boxer, a circus performer, and trainer of detectives in self defense. At the outbreak of the first world war, he was interned with other German nationals. During this period of confinement he taught fellow prisoners his growing system of mind/body development. During the latter part of the war he worked as a hospital orderly on the Island of Man, where he fashioned his first exercise equipment out of bedsprings and other available parts. Using this make-shift apparatus, the prototype of what was to become the Cadillac, he helped rehabilitate patients from injuries and illnesses.

Following the war, Joe returned to Germany where he continued to develop his fitness system. But as politics in Germany were not to his liking, he immigrated to the United States in 1923 and established the Pilates studio in New York with the assistance of his wife Clara.

Joe remained active training until his untimely death in 1967 at the age of 87.

Why is Pilates unlike other exercise programs?

Unlike conventional exercise programs, Pilates focuses on developing the deep, stabilizing muscles of the body: the transversus abdominus (deepest ab), the spinal erectors, the deep gluteals, among many others. These are postural, stabilizing muscles that enable the movement muscles to do their job.

Imagine what would happen if a stabilizing muscle were too weak to effectively do its job. Another muscle would have to take over. Take the deep gluteal muscles (beneath the gluteus maximus), for instance. If they are de-conditioned, the hamstrings are forced to take over stabilizing functions they were never designed to handle. Therefore, the hamstrings become tight, and extremely resistive to stretching. In fact, you cannot solve the problem by stretching, because the underlying cause is not addressed. To free the hamstrings, you must strengthen the gluteals. The hamstrings, since they are no longer required to act as pelvic stabilizers, can now move more freely and are much more responsive to stretching.

Pilates, then, conditions you 'from the inside out,' by uniformly developing all the key stabilizing muscles of the body. As a result, your posture improves, aches and pains go away, and you develop a graceful ease of movement that other people are likely to notice.

If I practice Pilates, what results am I likely to experience?

Here are some specific benefits most regular Pilates practitioners experience:

increased core strength and stability
increased strength and flexibility without bulk
improved posture
enhanced ease of movement
heightened body awareness
improved sports performance
improved balance, coordination, and circulation

Who can do Pilates?

Nearly anyone. The beauty of the Pilates method is that it is adaptable to anyone's level of conditioning. De-conditioned older folks and rehab patients benefit from the spring-assisted equipment exercises that gently guide their body through anatomically correct planes of movement. Many elite athletes use the method to enhance their flexibility and to more deeply challenge their core. Most people fit somewhere between these extremes of physical condition, and under the direction of a qualified trainer, they can benefit immeasurably from the method.

Seniors, as well as others with special conditions, should receive private training, rather than taking group classes. That way, they will be certain to work according to their individual abilities and needs.

I'm very overweight. Should I lose weight before starting Pilates?

Not necessarily. We have worked with numerous overweight people, and many have done quite well in private sessions and group classes.

Depending on your size, being heavy can restrict your movement in some exercises. That doesn't mean you can't do Pilates; you just have to recognize your present limitations and modify exercises accordingly. We will help you do that.

I'm 70 years old and very fit for my age. Can I join your MatPlus program?

Until we form a seniors-only class, that would not be a good idea. MatPlus is a very rigorous hour of matwork and wall unit exercises that challenge our younger clients.

As we said before, Pilates is for nearly everyone, but you have to work at your appropriate level. Our earnest recommendation is to begin with a series of private sessions. You will learn the matwork in these sessions, as well as most of the equipment work we do in MatPlus. If you demonstrate proficiency at a reasonable level of intensity, you could then consider the MatPlus program.

Can't I learn and do Pilates on my own?

Yes, there are many good books and videos available for home learning. However, all these resources have one limitation in common: they can't give you feedback concerning your performance of the exercises. Pilates entails movement patterns and stabilization techniques that are not intuitive for most people.

You may think you are doing a picture-perfect roll-up, for instance, but have you properly engaged your deep abdominal muscles to create a girdle of strength and protection around your lumbar vertebrae? As you roll up and back down are you extending through your heels to help take you out of your quads and hip flexors? Have you stabilized your shoulder girdle by dropping your shoulders down? In every case, do you initialize the movement from your central core, rather than from your shoulders? These are examples of distinctions that a well-trained Pilates instructor will help you learn and experience in your own body.

By all means, practice Pilates at home, but get started with a basic matwork class, or better yet, a few private sessions. This instruction will pave the way for a much more satisfying home practice of Pilates.

Is the matwork enough, or do I need to train on the equipment too?

Matwork is the Pilates method in its purest form. This is what Joe did, and trained other people in, before he invented the reformer, cadillac, and the other pieces of equipment. One school of thought is that the equipment exists to support the matwork. If you can do the matwork, you don't need the equipment.

That viewpoint is correct to a point, but only for some people. Seriously de-conditioned people and rehab patients require the assistance of the equipment springs to guide them through movements they could never do on their own. Conversely, highly conditioned people use the equipment for their resistive features to challenge their bodies beyond what is possible with matwork alone.

If you are a reasonably fit individual, your focus should be to learn the matwork. But get some equipment training to supplement the matwork. It will add a great deal of interest to your training, and it will deepen your understanding of the work.