Pilates initially was not intended for weight loss, but to stay
alive in internment camps.
At the dawn of World
War I, the British government was suspicious of young German
residents. To control the immigrant population, the British
arrested many of them and placed them in camps on the Isle of
Man. One of these camps, Knockaloe, interned 23,000 prisoners.
Conditions were grim. Many inmates reported “barbed-wire
disease,” a mental weariness similar to depression.
Joseph Pilates thought
he had the cure for his fellow inmates’ blues. He believed that
exercise could strengthen the German’s resolve. He crafted a
rudimentary workout machine by re-configuring
bed-frames. The contraption stretched and built muscles
even while lying in bed. After the war, the equipment became the
Pilates Cadillac. His product worked and none of the prisoners
who used Pilates’ equipment died during the influenza outbreak
of 1918. After a successful tour in America, Pilates became a
guru for health enthusiasts around the world.