(Photo : Leslie Lawson)

For Pilates Instructor and Founder and Owner of Renegade Pilates Leslie Lawson, the stereotype that Pilates is for women is a sheer fallacy. 

"There's this unfortunate stereotype and misconception that Pilates is only for women, but that couldn't be further from the truth," Lawson notes. "People should get involved with Pilates because it promotes longevity, and it's a full-body exercise that's extremely safe, extremely effective that you can do at any time in your life."

Pilates was originally called Contrology. It was by Joseph Pilates, a German man who, surprisingly given what he ended up achieving, was rather frail as a child. To remedy this, he took up bodybuilding. Jumping ahead a good many years - past Pilates time as a boxer, circus performer, and Scotland Yard trainer - during World War I, while held at an internment camp and through working with others there, he developed early versions of the tools and techniques used in Pilates today.

Then, in the late 1920s, Pilates opened his first training center in NYC. Within a decade, it had become a mecca for dancers. Pilates helped improve technique and prevent and rehab injuries. 

But more than just a means of maintaining physical health, Pilates taught that the mind builds the body, not the other way round. So as he worked on his physical fitness, he also worked on his mind, practicing meditative therapies and disciplines, like yoga and martial arts, and combined all of that with knowledge of human anatomy.

Leslie Lawson explains that one of the most significant benefits of Pilates is that it works the entire body at once. "Everything's connected because you work your body as a whole. And everything has to be integrated for your body to work correctly," she adds, "One of the main principles of Pilates, and one that I emphasize, is that you want to have equal strength and flexibility because if you have instability around a joint, you need that strength to balance yourself out."

But as Lawson reiterates, Pilates is suitable for everyone. "People's bodies will feel better and work better when they're aligned properly," she says, "and that's what Pilates will help them achieve. Pilates is safe and effective and can be practiced throughout a person's life regardless of age. It's the perfect lifelong practice."