These days Pilates is getting a lot of publicity as a favorite among celebrities and athletes, but what most people don't know is that Pilates has long term therapeutic appeal as well. Pilates focuses on controlled movements using the mind, body and breathing techniques to improve flexibility, strength and posture. We are not talking about a recent fad either, Pilates has actually been around since World War I.

German-born fitness innovator Joseph H. Pilates (1881-1967) developed the Pilates exercise system in the 1920s. His interest in physical fitness stemmed from a determination to strengthen his own body and improve his health after a sickly childhood. With a background in yoga, Zen meditation, martial arts and other ancient fitness techniques plus some success as a gymnast, diver and boxer, Joseph Pilates devised a unique sequence of movements that worked the mind and muscle in harmony.

Joseph went to England in 1912, where he worked as a self-defense instructor for detectives at Scotland Yard. At the outbreak of World War I, Joseph was interned as an "enemy alien" with other German nationals. During his internment, Joseph refined his ideas and trained other internees in his system of exercise. He rigged springs to hospital beds, enabling bedridden patients to exercise against resistance, an innovation that led to his later equipment designs. An influenza epidemic struck England in 1918, killing thousands of people, but not a single one of Joe's trainees died. This, he claimed, testified to the effectiveness of his system.

After the war, Joseph Pilates moved to New York and with his wife, Clara Pilates, opened up a studio near the New York City Ballet in 1926. It wasn't long before he drew a following with dancers who took to Pilates for its ability to create long, lean muscles and a strong, streamlined physique. Legends Martha Graham and George Balanchine were among his clientele.

In 1945, Joseph Pilates published Return to Life Through Contrology, which described his philosophical approach to exercise. Soon, some of his students began opening studios of their own - some making subtle adaptations to the method - and word of Pilates slowly spread.

Ron Fletcher was a Martha Graham dancer who studied and consulted with Joseph Pilates from the 1940s on, in connection with a chronic knee ailment. Fletcher opened his studio in Los Angeles in 1970 and attracted many Hollywood stars. Clara was particularly enamored with Ron and she gave her blessing to him to carry on the "Pilates" work and name. Fletcher brought some innovations and advancements to the "Pilates" work. His evolving variations on "Pilates" were inspired both by his years as a Martha Graham dancer and by another mentor, Yeichi Imura.

Where the stars go, the media follows. In the late 1980s, the media began to cover Pilates extensively. The public took note, and the Pilates business boomed. "I'm fifty years ahead of my time," Joseph Pilates once claimed. He was right. No longer the workout of the elite, Pilates has entered the fitness mainstream. Today, over 10 million Americans practice Pilates, and the numbers continue to grow.

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