Have you ever wondered why Pilates was invented? Or pondered who you have to thank (or blame!) for that shaking-legs sensation halfway through class?
It may be one of the world’s most popular workouts, but Pilates is over a century old – and its history is anything but ordinary. From the circus stage to the dance studios of New York, the method traveled a remarkable road before it reached your local VAURA studio.
But to understand it, you first have to understand the man who built – and gave his name to – the method. We’re talking, of course, about Joseph Pilates, creator of what he called Contrology: a system to develop strength, posture, breath and whole-body conditioning through controlled movement.
So how did a method conceptualized amid the destruction of World War I – and developed almost a hundred years ago – become the reformer class you just booked?
Join us as we trace the history of Contrology from Joseph Pilates’ own studio to the way it moves in VAURA workouts today.
Who was Joseph Pilates?
Joseph Pilates was a German-born physical trainer, writer, and inventor who developed the Pilates method.
Born in 1883 to a gymnast father and a naturopath mother1, Joseph grew up in a household that valued natural health and prevention. He gravitated to movement early, training across gymnastics, boxing, martial arts, and bodybuilding – disciplines he would later draw on when inventing Pilates.
Why was Pilates invented?
Pilates was invented to support physical and mental wellbeing through controlled, deliberate movement.
Joseph’s interest in the body began with his own. As a child, he lived with asthma, rickets, and rheumatic fever1, and used physical movement as a way to build muscle strength, improve his health, and regain confidence in his body.
That commitment carried into adulthood. He made a living through movement, working as a professional boxer, a circus performer, and a self-defense trainer1. Over time, he came to believe that movement – when practiced with focus and intention – could strengthen the body and the mind.
It was during World War One that the Pilates method began to take shape. While working with injured and bedridden patients, Joseph attached springs to iron bed frames, so they could move against resistance while lying down1. Those improvised designs became the early forerunners of the reformer beds and Pilates props you’ll find in our workouts.
What is Contrology?
Contrology is the original name for what we now call Pilates. It refers to the complete coordination of body, mind, and spirit through movement2.
At the time, Contrology challenged the mainstream belief that rest was the best path to recovery. Part of the Joseph Pilates controversy was that he believed the opposite: that controlled movement, breathwork, and body awareness could help rebuild strength, improve function, reconnect people with their bodies, and even improve sleep quality.
Today, Pilates is widely used in injury recovery and rehabilitation. Its low-impact approach allows people to build strength without placing unnecessary strain on the body. It is especially valued for its ability to support people dealing with lower back pain, with clinical trials showing it can help reduce pain and improve function in this area3.
How did Pilates evolve into the method we know today?
In 1926, Joseph immigrated to the United States1. On the ship to Manhattan, he met Clara – who would become his wife and his partner in building the method.
Together, they opened their first studio in Manhattan, and it was here that Contrology found its audience1.
The studio sat within the orbit of New York’s dance world and quickly drew a devoted following – including legendary choreographer George Balanchine and wildly popular dancer Martha Graham1 – who came to recover from injuries, prevent new ones, and build the core strength and control their art demanded.
When Joseph died in 1967 at the age of 831, Clara kept the studio running, and a group of his students – later known as the Pilates Elders – carried the method into studios of their own and passed it on. From there, Pilates kept expanding into dedicated studios, gyms, group reformer classes, and a whole spectrum of contemporary formats around the world.
With studios across the globe, find your closest VAURA studio and start a trial – and experience the benefits of Pilates for yourself.
What makes modern Pilates different?
So – what sets modern Pilates apart from its early 20th-century forebears?
The short answer is range. Joseph’s Contrology was a fixed sequence – 34 mat exercises, in the same order every session, with moves like The 100, The Roll-Up, and The Teaser. Modern Pilates has outgrown that rigid structure. Today, it spans everything from traditional mat and reformer work to strength training, cardio, and a range of yoga-inspired movements.
Whether you’re building strength, improving posture, using Pilates for toning, moving through pregnancy or working toward your weight-loss goals, VAURA has a class to match. But Joseph’s fingerprints are still all over it. You feel it every time a trainer reminds you to slow down and stay in control, and you see it in the moves themselves – from the graceful lines Pilates borrowed from the dance world to animal-inspired originals like The Seal.
How VAURA carries the Pilates method forward
At VAURA, we practice a type of dynamic Pilates – the traditional Contrology method, reimagined on the reformer and fused with athletic training.
Our trainers stay grounded in the control, breath, and mind-body connection Pilates was built on. What’s changed is the energy around it with neon lights, mirrored ceilings, and up-tempo beats creating a high-intensity, high-performance environment.
Our workouts carry a piece of the original method forward:
- Jumpboard: Low-impact cardio and power that lifts your heart rate while staying kind on the joints. It’s Joseph’s spring resistance for controlled loading – just faster!
- VAURA Strength: Strength-focused work on the reformer using spring tension and progressive overload to build muscle from a controlled core.
- Stretch: Deep poses from Pilates and yoga to build mobility, flexibility, and calm. Joseph prized length as highly as power, and Stretch carries that forward – with a class built on long lines, steady breath, and control.
- Total: Stay motivated to exercise with our signature all-in-one class, which blends strength, endurance, and stretch for every level.
Joseph Pilates invented Contrology to bring the body, mind, and spirit into better connection through movement. Next, discover how Pilates can support stress relief, and help you care for your mental wellbeing beyond the studio.
1 https://www.knockaloe.im/profile_428812.html
2https://archive.org/details/returntolifethro0000pila
3https://www.cochrane.org/CD010265/BACK_pilates-for-low-back-pain