Born in 1880 in Düsseldorf, Germany, Joseph Pilates, a German national of Greek descent,[1] became an avid exercise enthusiast (skier, gymnast, diver, martial arts student) and developed his body into superb condition. In his teens, he was used as a model for fitness charts. Traveling to England before the First World War, he worked as a boxer and circus performer.
During WWI, he was interned in the Isle of Man with other German nationals and POWs. A trained nurse in his native Germany, he was investigating ways that he could rehabilitate bed-ridden victims of the 1918 influenza pandemic. Thus he created a series of movements that could be practiced within the confines of this controlled environment.
The Pilates Reformer (a piece of Pilates apparatus) is based on an old hospital bed. Returning to Germany briefly after the war, he then began training professional boxers, notably heavyweight champion Max Schmeling, and police officers. He then moved to the United States and opened his own training studio in New York City in 1926 with his wife Clara.
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