Joseph Pilates was the pioneer of PILATES. At the outbreak of World War I, while in a concentration camp, he began to develop the floor exercises that evolved into what we now know as PILATES mat work. As time went by, Joseph Pilates began rehabilitating detainees who were suffering from diseases and injuries. He was inspired to use items that were available to him, like bed springs and beer keg rings, to create resistance exercise equipment for his patients. These were the unlikely beginnings of the equipment that we use today, like the reformer.