Pilates is all about consistent improvement leading to long-term gains. It is a low impact activity, though the slow controlled movements are still demanding. Pilates is not something where you will be asked to push boundaries, break through the pain barrier or exercise until you drop. Instead it is about steady sustainable improvement. Everyday Life...

Wellness is perhaps an overused term, but simply through concentrating on your breathing Pilates can help generate a sense of wellbeing as you forget about the worries of work and daily life. Joseph Pilates wrote in his book Return To Life Through Contrology, “above all learn how to breathe correctly.” Many people take breathing for...

Reformer Pilates is an excellent tool for both injury prevention and rehabilitation. It can also be very useful for “prehabilitation” before an operation. Indeed Joseph Pilates invented his contrology system, later called Pilates, as a means of rehabilitation for hospital patients on the Isle of Man, where he was interned during the first world war....

These days there are more varieties of our favourite exercise than you can shake a Pilates ball at — though whatever the fashion, we still think it’s hard to beat Classical Pilates. Here’s a summary of some of the ever-expanding forms of hybrid Pilates. Solidcore, Pilates/HIIT White Lotus and Euphoria actor Sydney Sweeney uses SolidCore,...

“If at the age of 30 you are stiff and out of shape you are old. If at 60 you are supple and strong then you are young,” reflected Joseph Pilates. The founder of Pilates, or contrology as it was then known, was convinced that his exercises could help with the problems of ageing. He...