Running: The most natural of human movements

"Today endurance running is primarily a form of exercise and recreation but its roots may be as ancient as the origin of the human genus and its demands; a major contributing factor to the human body form."

Dennis Bramble Professor of Biology
University of Utah

Joseph Pilates: Physical Educator and Innovator

"In order that one may receive the maximum benefit and resulting normal health from one's daily activities, one should understand at least some of the more rudimentary underlying principles governing the mechanism of the human body in motion, rest and sleep. For example, the leverage possibilities of the bones composing its skeletal framework, the range and limitation of proper muscle tension and relaxation, the laws of equilibrium and gravity, and last but not least, how to inhale and exhale; i.e. how to breathe properly – normally. A knowledge of these are essential if we are to benefit from any exercise."

Return to Health

PMA Position Statement: on Pilates

The Pilates Method Alliance (PMA) is well aware that as Pilates exercise has gained popularity, confusion and controversy have increased in the media, the public and even between Pilates teachers. Since the PMA's goal is protect and enhance the Pilates method, it is necessary to establish a position statement to clarify the perception of what Pilates was historically and what it is today.

The PMA believes that the Pilates method of exercise instruction should evolve in accordance with current scientific research and biomechanical principles.