GoKawiilKey Takeaways Joseph Pilates developed the low-impact workout to rehabilitate prisoners.
The exercise entered the mainstream in the U.S. in the 1990s.
Here’s how the practice evolved over the years, and what’s driving its latest spike.
Whether you’ve taken a Pilates class or not, you’ve no doubt heard of the exercise, which has enjoyed several spikes in popularity over the last century — including one that’s endured in recent years.
Pilates and yoga studios make up an estimated $120 billion market as of 2025.
Joseph Pilates, who was born in Germany in 1883 and trained as an acrobat and gymnast, developed the low-impact workout, which can improve muscle tone, flexibility and strength, and rehabilitate injuries.
In the early 1910s, Pilates and his performance troupe worked in England, where he still lived when World War I began. Pilates was imprisoned by the British as a German national classified as an “enemy alien.”
During his time in an internment camp, Pilates led injured inmates in rehabilitative exercises which could be done from a hospital bed, and led to the now-widespread practice.
Image Credit: New York Pilates
How Pilates became mainstream — and a business — in the U.S.
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