Pilates is a discipline focused on developing core strength, especially in areas vital for support to the spine and abdomen. The regimen is also an effective means to tone and firm; mostly through posture corrections and the reconfiguration of muscles.

Ongoing Pilates training will elongate the spine through realignment, improving overall flexibility and restoring height that life and gravity may have diminished. The Pilates method originated during World War I as a therapeutic option for osteopathic patients. Its inventor, Joseph Pilates, called his regimen "Contrology" because it taught a student to be in control of his/her body and "not at its mercy."

When the discipline was discovered by the dance community in the 1920s, the Pilates method was enthusiastically endorsed as an exercise capable of building long, lean muscles without adding bulk. Through these dancers, the regimen has gradually moved to the forefront as a fitness option and today is a basic part of physical training and physical therapy.