Joseph Pilates was born in 1880 in Dusseldorf in the newly unified state of Germany. During this time, physical fitness crazes swept throughout the west. In an effort to strengthen his own body, which had been weak since birth, he dedicated his life to teaching the importance of health through the essential ingredient, balance. He looked at scientific developments relating to diet, structural and postural defects, furniture manufacturers, fitness crazes, and psychology to name a few.