Whether you are a professional or amateur athlete, Gyrotonic is one of the most intelligent and valuable cross-training movement systems you have probably never heard of. Long before Gyrotinic was popular with ordinary exercise enthusiasts, it was catching on with tennis players, golfers, dancers and other elite athletes.
It makes sense that a Gyrotonic exercise system developed by a former dancer would appeal to other elite athletes. More Gyrotonic studios are opening across the world, so athletes in new cities can finally take advantage of the practice. Let’s see why Gyrotonic exercises in London are a perfect movement system for athletes (and yes, you, too!).
Developing Techniques And Learning Breathing Patterns
The athletic technique involves complex movements recruiting multi-dimensional joint activity. For instance, a dancer assuming an arabesque requires tremendous lumbopelvic and leg strength and stability to stand on one leg and externally rotate and lift the other leg up and around in hip extension. And every athletic technique goes hand in hand with a breathing pattern. In fact, one can’t efficiently and effectively move without proper breathing.
Proper breathing leads to proper oxygenation, which helps athletes develop stamina and endurance, regulate physical and mental stress during the performance, and sustain energy.
Gyrotonic also requires a multi-dimensional movement technique, which maximizes mobility, strength and stability. The movement system creates oppositional forces in the body to move in fluid and dynamic but unbreakable connectedness. It also develops breath control and encourages full use of the diaphragm – the major muscle responsible for respiration. Perfecting the Gyrotonic technique requires focus and grit, what we call mind-body awareness and connection.
The Gyrotonic System Uses The Whole Body
Athletes also love Gyrotonic because it encourages spinal movement more than any other exercise system. Gyrotonic exercises involve the basic spinal motions of arching and curling, spiralling (rotations), side arch and waves. By executing two or more of these movements simultaneously, one can create balance, develop a greater range of motion and generate power in the body.
Most other training systems rely on angular patterns of movement. They develop the larger muscle groups such as quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes, traps and lats, biceps and triceps. These muscle groups dominate most movements in sports. Unfortunately, smaller muscle groups are underutilized, such as hip rotators, pelvic floor muscles, multifidi and serratus anterior, to name a few. This leads to muscle imbalances, weakness and eventually injuries.
The Benefits
1. Improves posture
Sports medics have attributed a more upright and elegant posture to the continuous involvement of the supportive muscles as they are strengthened and stretched.
2. Puts no stress on joints
Gyrotonics is beneficial for anyone suffering from joint pain because the unique way of securing the pulleys on the GXS machines allows movement without impact.
3. This leads to better coordination
The major muscle groups work together and interdependently, which, over time, leads to increased coordination with more efficient muscle recruitment.
4. Lifts your spirits
Fans attribute increased energy and raised spirits to the circular, spiralling motions and specific individual breathing patterns, which help relax tight muscles and stiff joints.
5. Gives you full spinal mobility
Gyrotonic movements free the spine from moving in all directions, improving back suppleness.
Gyrotonic for Athletic Rehab and Recovery
Gyrotonic was developed by an elite dancer, Juliu Horvath, who found that none of the exercise systems he was familiar with allowed him to fully recover after a devastating injury. Horvath built his first Pulley Towers by hand because he saw a way to gently strengthen and stretch injured muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Horvath’s rehabilitative genius is why Gyrotonic has become popular with physical therapists and fitness enthusiasts alike.
The Pulley Tower system allows a full range of spinal movement and joint articulation, compressing the joints in high-impact sports better than any other exercise equipment. As the joints move and gently stretch, it restores blood flow and nourishes the ligaments, which speeds healing. By using the Pulley Tower, dancers, gymnasts and other elite athletes can recover from injuries and maintain their normal range of flexibility and strength.
Gyrotonic for Golfers
Gyrotonic can improve performance in every sport. In fact, it’s caught on so much with elite golfers that Forbes even ran an article promoting the exercise for serious golf enthusiasts. Gyrotonic has caught on with golfers because its muscles are crucial to perfecting your swing, which is difficult to do without targeted exercise.
Speed in the golf swing is created through rotation, but you can’t generate effective power through rotation if your hips are uneven and immobile; your spiral begins and ends at your shoulders rather than continuing down to your spine. Perfecting this movement requires increasing control, strength and endurance in the muscle groups that Gyrotonic develops.
Are You Ready To Train Like An Athlete?
Even if you aren’t an athlete, Gyrotonic is accessible and adaptable for people from all walks of life. Gyrotonic can dramatically increase your strength, flexibility, focus and balance. It can help reduce injuries. It can also stretch and strengthen sore backs and improve posture. Best of all, it’s suitable for beginners and fitness enthusiasts. The Gyrotonic exercises Pulley Tower can be adjusted for each individual’s strengths and weaknesses, delivering a challenging but enjoyable workout.
Non-athletes can also benefit from rehabbing with Gyrotonic exercises. It can also help those who suffer from chronic degenerative conditions like arthritis since improving ligament health can counteract the collagen loss in the joints that happens as we age. However, your primary physician should approve any rehabilitative training you undertake.
Bottom Line
The Gyrotonic method’s popularity is increasing. Over 13,000 trainers worldwide offer the Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis Methods. And if the sequences are a bit hard to visualize, the experience speaks for itself. Many clients call it the “fountain of youth,” because it reverses and corrects the effects gravity has on their bodies, often allowing clients to return to activities they’ve been unable to do because of pain, arthritis or restricted range of motion.