Gyrotonic exercise a pilates alternative

The pilates exercise program is surely in the cultural spotlight at this point in time. It’s an exercise system that was devised by Joseph Pilates in the early 1900s and it has been largely unchanged since it’s inception. Many people around the world turn to pilates in order to more efficiently tone their body, increase the strength of the muscles in their abdomen and back, and increase their overall flexibility. It’s also beneficial when it comes to increasing body awareness, helping to facilitate proper posture and spinal flexibility, and helping to maintain a sense of balance. It’s methodology and results are a vast departure from the conventional types of exercise programs that have dominated fitness centers for years, and for that reason, many feel that there is no alternative method for achieving the results. However, there is a new exercise program that has been invented which is intended to give pilates a run for it’s money.

Known as Gyrotonic, this new exercise program is just beginning to take off around the world. It was created in the 1980s and it promises to offer many of the same benefits as a pilates program, with increased core strength, greater flexibility, a strengthened spine, and increased muscle tone being trumpeted by those who subscribe to the program. There’s a growing list of celebrities that promote the program, including Madonna, the timeless beauty whose body is largely owed to her heavy participation in exercise programs including yoga, pilates, and Gyrotonic exercise throughout the years. It uses many of the same types of movement as pilates, but it’s main difference is the fact that it focuses largely on movements that are circular, where pilates often employs the use of linear movements to achieve its goals. It uses a device that is known as a Gyrotonic Expansion System, but is commonly referred to as ‘the tower’.

Subscribers to the program say that it is a better methodology than pilates, as the movements that are performed are more three-dimensional than the standard linear motions used in the pilates program. Created by Juliu Horvath, the program was designed around the movements that he saw in animals such as monkeys, cats, and octopi. For that reason, many of the exercises in the program have animal-based names. It borrows from the traditions of yoga and pilates and strives to improve them. Some have argued that the program can be an effective method of physical therapy, and that the program allows them to ‘open their bodies’ more efficiently than a pilates program may. One downside to the program is the fact that it is not offered everywhere, and when you can find it, the costs can be expansive. A typical gyrotonic session at a fitness center may cost around thirty five dollars, and buying a Gyrotonic Expansion System to use in the home is hardly a cost-effective alternative, with prices for the device hovering at around five thousand dollars. While the jury is still out on which program is more efficient, Gyrotonic exercise is definitely gaining in popularity, with the number of instructors in the field more than doubling since the year 2000.