There are so many good ways to get fit and maintain good health through exercise and no one method works for everybody. That's why it's good to have a choice of fitness methods to use. One home fitness exercise that has been gaining in popularity in recent years is pilates. A lot of people have heard of pilates but don't really know much about it though.

Essentially, the pilates exercise system is named after it's founder Joseph Pilates, who suffered from several childhood sicknesses and so worked constantly on strengthening his body and improving health through exercise. He developed a system of low impact isometric movements that emphasize strength and grace of body movement. It's a completely different approach to fitness exercise than used by most people today.

Pilates does not emphasize many repetitions of a particular exercise. Instead the quality of the movement is more important. Emphasis is also placed on the mind/body connection as the movements are carried out as well, and attention is paid to correct breathing practices to help the exerciser stay in a relaxed and controlled state of mind.

Many pilates exercises focus on what is called the core of the body made up by the stomach and back. Joseph pilates believed that if the core of the body was strong it would prevent many common injuries. For this reason, pilates is often used by people who suffer from some sort of back pain, as that can be triggered and sustained by weaknesses and imbalance in the core muscles of the body.

Interestingly enough though, pilates is a very gentle and low impact method exercise and so even those in poor health can often improve their strength and stamina using the gentle pilates exercise system. It's always good to have your doctor approve any exercise routine in which you might engage, but many doctors are very favorably inclined toward the use of pilates for their patients.

Another great advantage of pilates exercises is that they don't take long to do. Since the quality of the body movements are more important than simple repetitions, many pilates exercises routines can be accomplished in 10-15 minutes right at home. This works very well for many busy, on-the-go people today who are also concerned about maintaining good health.

So if you are thinking about starting a new exercise routine, or just want to add to the one you already have, give pilates a good look and see if it can help you get fit and stay in shape.