Authentic Pilates at Rhinebeck Pilates
The Pilates Method of Body Conditioning was originated by Joseph Pilates 1902 and throughout his lifetime as a means to “complete coordination of the mind, body and spirit”. With the use of specialized apparatus, pilates movements are flowing, precise, energizing, and challenging, and based on “stretch with strength and control.”
The Authentic Pilates Method and pilates equipment will strengthen and tone the entire body, with an emphasis on the core muscles. It is not uncommon for pilates students to re-learn correct posture, realign to proper biomechanical patterns and gain inches in height after only a few months of regular pilates practice!
Benefits of Authentic Pilates
Everybody including men and women, athletes, dancers, new mothers, office workers, the physically active and people recovering from injuries have all experienced the benefits of pilates at Rhinebeck Pilates.
Pilates will:
- Strengthen and define muscles without building bulk
- Tone the whole body with use of spring resistance
- Increase flexibility, coordination, circulation, and overall health
- Increase range of motion
- Improve posture
- Promote relaxation and well-being
Pilates helps:
- Golfers improve their game
- Runners, cyclists, skiers, and tennis players reduce risk of injury
- Women prepare for a healthy pregnancy, and regain strength afterwards
- Bad backs decrease tension from building strength in the core muscles
- Older adults improve balance and joint health
About Gratz Pilates Equipment
Rhinebeck Pilates is fully equipped with Gratz apparatus, which is well known for being the original manufacturer of pilates equipment and the only pilates equipment still made today with Joseph Pilates specifications and measurements. Our equipment was handmade for our studio in Long Island City, NY (some of our newer pieces were made in Gratz’s new factory in Philadelphia).
The original owner of Gratz Industries, Frank Gratz, was commissioned directly by Joseph Pilates to manufacture his equipment in metal, as opposed to wood, which what Joseph Pilates was previously making his own equipment out of. In the 1970’s, Frank Gratz’s son, Donald Gratz, continued the relationship with the pilates legacy by working directly with Romana Krysanowska, the keeper of the Pilates method.
The differences in Gratz equipment versus any other type of equipment are quite apparent, not only in looks but especially in feel while exercising. Gratz reformers are well known for the drag of the carriage, weight of the springs, and tension of the straps. Students truly have to become one with the equipment, and work with it, during each and every exercise. The equipment offers assistance, as well as strong resistance. This duality is present throughout the whole pilates method- again and again. It starts with the equipment. Then, translates into the exercises, and then into the body.
Our studio is the most fully equipped, classical pilates studio in the Hudson Valley area.