Pilates was founded by Joseph Pilates from Germany who in his youth had practised many of the physical training regimes available in Germany to help with his own ill health, and it was from these he later developed his own method. Joseph Pilates said that the inspiration for his method came to him during World War One, while he was being held on the Isle of Man. He developed his method there for four years, working on his fellow internees. During the first half of the twentieth century, he developed a system of exercises which were intended to strengthen the human mind and body. Pilates believed that mental and physical health were interrelated. Joseph Pilates accompanied his method with a variety of equipment, for which he used the term "apparatus". Each apparatus was designed to help accelerate the process of stretching, strengthening, body alignment and increased core strength started by the mat work.

Throughout his life he introduced people to his Pilates method and it is now widely used throughout the world; As of 2005, there were 11 million people practising the discipline regularly.