Pilates was developed by the German gymnast Joseph Pilates in the early 1900s. He believed that mental and physical health were closely intertwined, and he started Pilates as an exercise program for injured dancers and soldiers.
Joseph moved to the USA in 1923 and opened a Pilates studio in New York. While it was used mostly by ballet dancers until the 1990s, Pilates took off as a mainstream practice in the mid-2000s.