Pilates machines have changed very little in a century, says Emiliano Cais, head of the Italian company Genesi, one of Europe's leading distributors of professional Pilates equipment.
According to him, Joseph Pilates not only created the famous exercise method, but also built the original machines himself, including the iconic "Reformer" device, which was patented in the US in 1924. His first drawings and projects are still preserved in the US Patent Institute and are very similar to the devices that are produced today.
The year 2026 marks two important anniversaries for the world of Pilates: the 100th anniversary of the first studio opened by Joseph Pilates in New York and the 50th anniversary of the American company Balanced Body, today considered one of the biggest names in the global Pilates industry.
The story of Balanced Body began in the 1970s in California, when founder Ken Endelman, then a carpenter and waterbed salesman, received an unusual request from a client to build a device called the “Reformer.” It was there that the adventure that would later become a global industry began.
In 1999, Endelman also became involved in a legal battle to challenge the exclusive registration of the name “Pilates” as a trademark. According to Cais, this was one of the reasons why the method spread so widely around the world and did not remain limited to an elite brand.
The biggest boom came after the Covid-19 pandemic. From an activity mainly associated with women and mothers, Pilates became a massive trend among young people and men as well, losing the image of a purely "soft" or relaxing activity.
Joseph Pilates is described as a tough, eccentric, and charismatic character, but at the same time obsessed with the idea of spreading his method throughout the world, without elitist barriers.
He also published two books about his philosophy on the body and well-being: "Your Health" in 1934 and "Return To Life Through Contrology" in 1945, books that, according to today's experts, still seem extremely modern in the way they talk about health and physical balance.
