Pilates is a physical fitness

Physical fitness

Physical fitness comprises two related concepts: general fitness , and specific fitness...

 system developed in the early 20th century by Joseph Pilates

Joseph Pilates

Joseph Hubertus Pilates invented and promoted the Pilates method of physical fitness.- Biography:Joseph H. Pilates was born in 1883 in Mönchengladbach, Germany. His father was a prize-winning gymnast of Greek ancestry, and his mother worked as a naturopath...

 in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, the UK and the USA. As of 2005, there were 11 million people practicing the discipline regularly and 14,000 instructors in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Pilates called his method Contrology (from control and Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

 , -logia

-logy

-logy is a suffix in the English language, used with words originally adapted from Ancient Greek language ending in -λογία...

), because he believed that his method uses the mind to control the muscles. Pilates is a body conditioning routine that helps to not only build flexibility, but also strength, endurance, and coordination in the legs, abdominals, arms and back.
Pilates was designed by Joseph Pilates

Joseph Pilates

Joseph Hubertus Pilates invented and promoted the Pilates method of physical fitness.- Biography:Joseph H. Pilates was born in 1883 in Mönchengladbach, Germany. His father was a prize-winning gymnast of Greek ancestry, and his mother worked as a naturopath...

, a physical-culturist born in Mönchengladbach

Mönchengladbach

Mönchengladbach , formerly known as Münchengladbach, is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine half way between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border....

, Germany in 1883.