Cross Training with the Gyrotonic®

Since extreme sports is often a sport that you start out at in your youth, you are not concerned about preventative care or long term conditioning for your muscles and joints. That’s only something old people worry about. But as soon as you turn 25 and olie down 10 stairs, shwak the lip backside, or huck yourself off a kicker 20 feet in the air, you realize the next day that you are not 16 anymore. It is important to take care of your body at any age to ensure a life injury free so you can keep having fun doing what you love for many years to come.

With the new emerging competitive level of female athleticism in the area of action sports, there is a developing need for women to realize that their bodies require toning and training in order to maintain a competitive edge. There are many new programs out there focusing on sport specific regiments in order to develop existing muscles, increase flexibility and create a mind body awareness that aligns talent with athleticism.

One specific method of training that the action sports community might find useful is the Gyrotonic. The machine was developed in the 80’s by Juliu Horvath. He was a dancer who had ties to Tai-Chi, gymnastics, yoga, and palates. He was performing in the Houston Ballet when he ruptured his Achilles tendon. He decided to be the test person for the Gyrotonic during his rehabilitation. He came up with a base line of movements that he later pulled together. There were several prototypes that he worked with until it was finally manufactured.
“As a Gyrotonic instructor, the goal is to find the balance of strength and flexibility,” Rosy said. “That balance helps prevent injuries because the muscles have enough give. With the flexibility it gives a movement with potential to be greater than what is innate in the body. So that if you do have a fall or are going a little bit beyond what’s comfortable, the muscle tissue has more to give and stretch instead of tearing or breaking.”

The machine itself looks like a bow flex bench press that you buy on one of those infomercials. Yet the Gyrotonic is much more than that. It offers so much more than getting fit. People of all ages use it in order to get the blood flowing and opening the body for deep breathing exercises. Older people can benefit from the varied motions of the machine as well as young people for creating a deeper connection with how the body works.

Moving through circular motions develop muscle surrounding the joint all the way around so that not one side is stronger than the other, there’s a balance of muscle surrounding the joint

“[The Gyrotonic] decompresses the spine,” said RBC One Instructor, Jennine. “There have been instances where people gain inches back because of the lengthening process.” [The Gyrotonic] gives you a competitive edge because it builds mind-body awareness so that you can take more control of what your body is doing.”

The varied movements that are taught on the Gyrotonic are different from other more traditional forms of exercise.

“A lot of the movements with Gyrotonic are circular in nature,” Rosy said. “The shoulder and hip joints are designed to have a full range of motion in a circular pattern. A lot of times we do movements that are forward back and start stop. This allows for a continuum. Moving through circular motions develop muscle surrounding the joint all the way around so that not one side is stronger than the other, there’s a balance of muscle surrounding the joint. If you have tighter hamstrings in the back of your legs and quadriceps, which can lead to chronic back pain or can pull you into an awkward posture. But when you practice Gyrotonic, and specifically the circular nature of the movement and balance the muscles surrounding the joints, it gives you an uprightness that’s unsurpassed. It provides a great stabilization to your joints to feel more balanced.”

For more information on the instructors please visit www.rbcone.com
To find a studio near you to try the Gyrotonic please visit www.gyrotonic.com/Studios.aspx