Pilates is not a new phenomenon. Joseph Pilates started developing his exercise method while serving in hospitals during the first world war. In 1926, Pilates moved to New York City where he opened his studio and since that time has maintained a steady and devoted following. After his death in 1967, his work has been carried on by Romana Kryzanowska, master teacher and protégé of Joseph Pilates. Early advocates of Pilates came from the arts and entertainment community, particularly dancers and schools of ballet. In recent years, many celebrities and professional athletes say they attribute their strong toned bodies to the Pilates method.

Not all Pilates methods are the same. The popularity of Pilates has grown in recent years, resulting in many health clubs and privately-owned studios offering Pilates-inspired or Pilates-based programs. The classical Pilates method is different. It is a unique and powerful method of exercise that has stood the test of time and really does delivers results. Authentic Pilates offers only the authentic Pilates method and uses the highest quality equipment on the market (based on Joseph Pilates' original design specifications and mechanics), made by Gratz Industries. Classical Pilates, synonymous with authentic or Romana's Pilates, requires extensive training for instructor certification with over 700 hours of studio internship and three tiers of testing with practical evaluations. This Pilates method uses Gratz equipment and follows Joseph Pilates' vision of teacher instruction and client workouts. Pilates is intelligent exercise that will change the shape of your body and how you feel in it. Authentic Pilates instruction improves posture, balance and body awareness, while increasing strength, flexibility and spine mobility.

Pilates is intelligent exercise that will change the shape of your body and how you feel in it. Pilates can benefit people of all levels of fitness, men, women, the young and athletic, or the older individual. Regardless of your physical ability level, every workout is productive and challenging. Authentic Pilates offers its clients individualized attention and customized workouts regardless of one's ability level. The classical Pilates method teaches you a way of life through enhanced body awareness. Pilates is something you carry with you for a lifetime.

Pilates is a method of exercise that incorporates stretch, strength, and control into its movements to create a specialized method of body conditioning. Through Pilates, the body and mind are trained to work together to achieve optimum fitness goals. There are over 500 different exercises performed on five unique pieces of equipment. Each exercise is done in a particular sequence, with a minimum number of repetitions and a high degree of precision and mental focus. As clients progress, the movements become continuous from one exercise to the next creating an increasingly more challenging and aerobic workout. By incorporating the six principles of Pilates into clients' workouts -- concentration, control, centering, precision, breathing, rhythm & flow -- the Pilates method trains the mind and the body to work together towards the goal of overall fitness.

Pilates is based on the principle that before working the peripheral parts of the body, the Powerhouse needs to be strong and stable. Pilates seeks to develop an equal balance of abdominal and lower back musculature in order to build strength, agility and muscle tone in a balanced way. Pilates is a lesson in opposition movement, one direction is lengthened and controlled, while the oppositional muscles stabilize. This allows Pilates to lengthen and strengthen muscles simultaneously, helping to create an energized, pain-free, flexible and strong body. Along with increasing strength and flexibility, Pilates incorporates mental focus and concentration into its workouts. When clients learn to fully concentrate while executing each exercise with precision and control, the body will improve dramatically. Pilates is intelligent exercise -- Pilates is as much for the mind as it is for the body.

The core, or in Pilates terminology, the powerhouse is comprised of the upper and lower abdominal muscles, the lower back and the buttocks. These muscles are difficult to isolate and strengthen through conventional forms of exercise. Pilates exercises are designed to stabalize the torso and work the muscles of the powerhouse lower, deeper, and more intensely. The powerhouse is responsible for supporting good posture, and if not used properly, will deterioriate with time. By stabalizing and engaging the powerhouse, the arms and legs can move freely from a stable spine, increasing flexibility and strength at the same time.