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What is Pilates?
An intelligent form of exercise focusing on strength, mobility and body control. If you want a stronger body, to reduce pain and discomfort, prevent injuries or simply to move better, Pilates can provide you with the best conditions for a strong and well-functioning body.
Pilates can be adapted for everyone
Pilates is a versatile form of exercise that can be adapted to all levels. Using various Pilates equipment, exercises are tailored to the individual. Therefore, we can train everyone from the top athlete who wishes to optimise their performance, to people with special physical challenges or those needing rehabilitation.
The man behind Pilates
Joseph Pilates (1883-1967) was born in Germany and developed the training method we know today as Pilates. As a child, he suffered from asthma, among other ailments, and used exercise to strengthen his own body.
During the First World War, Joseph Pilates was interned in England, where he began teaching other internees his exercises and further developed his ideas on movement and body control.
After the war, Joseph Pilates returned to Germany, where his training method generated significant interest. When he was later offered the chance to train the new German army, he opted instead to emigrate to the USA. In 1926, he and his wife Clara opened their first studio in New York. Here, he worked with everyone from dancers and athletes to ordinary people with pain, injuries, and other physical challenges.
Joseph Pilates was not just a skilled teacher – he was also an inventor. Through his work with his clients, he continually developed both exercises and Pilates equipment. Each new challenge became an opportunity to develop new solutions, and this is how the Cadillac, Reformer, Chair, and Ladder Barrel, among others, came into being.
The unique spring system developed by Joseph Pilates is still what characterises Pilates equipment today. The springs provide both resistance and support, making it possible to adapt the workout to the individual.
Same way – different directions
Today, Pilates is taught in many different ways. Some stick to Joseph Pilates’ original exercises and fixed sequence, while others work more flexibly with exercise selection and sequence to adapt the training to the individual.
CLASSICAL PILATES
Sticking as closely as possible to Joseph Pilates’ original system. This means that the exercises are performed in a fixed sequence, where each exercise has a purpose and prepares the body for the next. There are minor variations between the classical schools, but what they have in common is the desire to preserve Joseph Pilates’ original work.
Contemporary/Modern Pilates
Based on Joseph Pilates’ exercises, but working more flexibly with the choice of exercises and order. This allows for greater adaptation of the training to the individual, while incorporating the latest knowledge of anatomy, biomechanics and movement.
HOs pilates cph
We see strengths in both directions. Therefore, we master and teach both classical and contemporary Pilates. On our instructor training course, we start with the classical system and the original order of the exercises. At the same time, we incorporate the latest knowledge on anatomy, biomechanics and movement, so our instructors get the best of both worlds.
equipment - more than just a reformer
Joseph Pilates developed each piece of equipment with a specific purpose. Together, they make it possible to challenge and support the body in vastly different ways.
Cadillac/Trapeze Table
Consists of a mattress surrounded by a cube-shaped frame with springs mounted on both ends and on the top. Here, a vast repertoire of exercises can be performed – from very small and precise movements, where a single joint is trained in detail, to large, compound sequences that place high demands on strength, control, coordination, and body awareness.
Reformers
Consists of a movable carriage that glides back and forth on rails. At one end, springs are fitted, and at the other, straps that are used with both hands and feet. The springs provide both resistance and support, making the Reformer suitable for everything from rehabilitation to advanced Pilates.
Tower Unit
It's a smaller variation of the Cadillac. It consists of a mattress, a single vertical frame with springs, and two trapezes. A large part of the classic Pilates repertoire can be performed here.
High Chair and Wunda Chair
Consists of a seat with a spring-loaded pedal which can be activated with both arms and legs. The small support surface challenges strength, balance and body control, and allows for training the entire body.
Arm Chair
A smaller chair with springs and a movable backrest. It is primarily used for training arms, shoulders, and the upper back.
Ladder Barrel, Spine Corrector and Small Barrel
As the name suggests, these are training tools based on a barrel shape. They are developed to strengthen and mobilise the spine, as well as improve mobility in the pelvis, rib cage, and shoulders.
Ped-o-pull
A vertical stand with springs for the arms. The equipment is used, among other things, to train posture, shoulder stability, spinal control, and technique in squats and other standing exercises.
Foot Corrector
A small spring-loaded tool used to strengthen the feet, ankles and lower legs.
Toe Gizmo
A small spring system that strengthens and mobilises the toes and improves the interplay between feet, hips and gait function.
Magic Circle
Consists of a flexible ring with two handles. It is used, among other things, to train the inner thighs, shoulders and neck, as well as to challenge stability, control and muscle activation.
If your spine is stiff at 30, you are old. If it is flexible at 60, you are young.
Joseph Hubertus Pilates
(1880-1967)
Regular practitioners of Pilates feel a heightened sense of awareness and ease in their bodies, experiencing less pain and increased mobility. This freedom ultimately leads to increased satisfaction in life! Joseph Hubertus Pilates
(1880-1967)
After 10 lessons you feel better, after 20 you look better - and after 30 lessons you have a new body