Category: Blog

I require all clients to have Pilates grip socks for a couple of reasons:

My clients’ safety is my number one priority and I will only create rules that are in my clients’ best safety interest. Clients put their well-being in my hands. Pilates apparatus can be slippery in certain positions and people sweat at their feet which creates slip. Sorry I’ve studied the human anatomy enough to know we all do sweat at the feet (no matter how cringe that might sound). I will not risk my clients unnecessarily slipping when there is a simple solution of grip socks especially not on moving apparatus.

There is also the issue of hygiene. We’ve just been in a global pandemic and I hope this has opened up our eyes to hygiene as whole. We walk around wearing sandals to a public swimming pool so let’s lend the same respect to our favorite studio reformers. Feet will be in straps and on the bar and then for a different exercise our hands will go to where out feet were. This is much more pleasant when we know we are wearing a fresh pair of socks that we have worn for just this 50-minute class. You wearing socks is for respect of your safety and hygiene as well as other clients.

I absolutely love my clients’ intrigues about Pilates so I thought I’d write a very brief (as there is so much more to cover) sum up of the creator Joseph Pilates.

Joseph Pilates was born on 9th December 1883 In Monchengladbach, Germany. Growing up he suffered from Asthma, Rickets and Rheumatic fever, consequently he dedicated his entire life to improving his physical strength. He was introduced by his gymnast enthusiast father to gymnastics and to martial arts. His early jobs involved working in a circus, in boxing and as a self defense trainer. His experience led him to realize the effect modern life style had on people’s lives and went on to devise a series of exercises and training techniques, alongside the all the amazing Pilates apparatus to teach his method.

During World War I he intensely developed and perfected his method which he used for seriously injured veterans originally. He called this method Contrology. It was later on that it was named Pilates to honor him and his pure genius.

Pilates moved to the US and met his future wife Clara. They established a very devoted following for the method and had become extremely well known for its benefits in the dancing community.

Pilates died in New York City in 1967 at the age of 83.

This is a very brief sum-up of Joseph Pilates and how Pilates was created just to answer common questions I get. There is so much more detail to him and how this method came to life. I love when clients ask. I’m always happy to go into much more depth.