Origin
Where does Pilates come from?
Joseph Pilates, born in 1880 in Germany, developed this method at the
beginning of the 20th century. As a child Pilates suffered from rickets,
rheumatic fever and asthma, and therefore was very early in his life devoted
to physical training.
He even earned, among other things, his money as a boxer and circus performer.
Pilates called his first training system Controlgy ... spirit and will
to control the muscles.
This approach is of course still the basic idea of the Pilates workout.