Pg. 26 2025-26 Health & Wellness Magazine Lincoln Daily News Pilates and its health benefits Recently, Ethan “Tappy” and Emilie Tapscott opened Imago Dei Pilates Studio at the Dugan Center on North McLean Street in Lincoln. Their goal is to help people improve core strength, posture and confidence through lowimpact, reformer based Pilates. Pilates originated during World War I when Joseph Pilates was in an internment camp on the Isle of Man. During this time, he led the other inmates in exercises. Many soldiers were in hospital beds and Joseph Pilates noticed nurses had to move soldiers’ limbs for them. A site about the origin of Pilates says, Joseph Pilates “rigged springs to hospital beds, enabling bedridden patients to exercise against resistance.” Doing that helped the soldiers move their own limbs. Pilates later improved on this idea and created the Pilates Reformer machines. Pilates originally called his exercise system Contrology. As the article “From Contrology to Modern Fitness: The Evolution of Pilates” says, “Contrology focused on the principles of breath control, concertation, centering, precision, control and flowing movements.” When Joseph Pilates emigrated to the United States in 1926, he opened a fitness studio in New York and worked with dancers “to help them recover from injuries and improve their strength and flexibility.” Soon, the popularity of this exercise system spread. Over 100 years since Joseph Pilates developed his exercise system, its popularity continues. There are many benefits to doing Pilates exercises. For example, Pilates can help people with strength, flexibility and muscle tone. Tappy shared several other key benefits of Pilates: • It can improve posture. • It can increase confidence. • It can reduce feelings of anxiety and depression through controlled breathing techniques. • It can improve the mind/body connection. • It can increase height by helping you maintain a proper posture. Continued --
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