First, it is important to understand the meaning of the term as it pertains to this type of exercise: “GYRO” means circular. “TONIC” means to make you feel good. It’s nothing akin to “gin and tonic” which is what many practitioners may turn to after their first workout. The studio featuring the first GYROTONIC methods and machines was introduced to Las Vegas last fall by professional dancer Elizabeth Holland, the owner, trainer, and studio director of Las Vegas GYROTONIC exercise studio, as a way of keeping her body fit and to rehabilitate and treat chronic joint problems common among stage performers. Holland is educated in Pilates and yoga techniques that are similar to the methods used in Gyrotonic. Hip and shoulder injuries in particular led Holland to the lower-impact (but entirely thorough) form of exercise.
“It’s all circular, spiral, rotational movement, so it kind of never ends,” Holland says. “It creates a turbulence free environment for the body to move and breathe. It creates a lot of therapeutic healing qualities, and it can build all the way up to a full-fledged workout for strength and cardiovascular work.”
An hour-long Gyrotonic workout begins with a series of stretching exercises that are at once simple and challenging (to get an idea of what Gyrotonic exercises look like, check out footage of Madonna’s most recent concert tour). The movements are centered on the spine, and they are primarily leaning and arching movements that allow your body to become flexible enough to try the machines that sit, somewhat ominously, in Holland’s studio. These machines bear simple enough names: the Pulley Tower Combo Unit, the Ladder, the Jumping & Stretching Board, the Leg Extension Unit. But these four machines are inherently versatile, allowing for more than 150 exercises to build strength, flexibility and suppleness to even the stiffest body type (Holland has even worked over the battled bodies of former NFL players).
The Gyrotonic system(or, Gyrokinesis, as it was known originally) was developed by Juliu Horvath, a former member of the State Opera Ballet of Romania, who defected to the United States nearly 40 years ago and wound up dancing with the New York City Ballet. Horvath, who today is more than 60 years old and is still considered the guru of the swiveling exercise method, had long suffered from dance-related pain. While recuperating, he devised a se of machines that would build strength and flexibility while incorporating th natural movements of a ballet dancer. But Gyrotonic’s practical application is suited for office workers who spend long stretches in inflexible desk chairs, hunched over computers.
By the end of a Gyrotonic workout, expect to be fully effected, and to be standing straighter than when you walked in. It is not uncommon for those that have taken part in even one workout to appear taller, which is a by product of Pilates and yoga training.
“I think this is the beginning of a new era of exercise, where people are probably going to start looking at the fact that we live in a three-dimensional world and we need to start moving that way,” says Holland, whose studio also offers traditional yoga and Pilates workouts. “In traditional workouts, you have more linear movements. In Gyrotonic, we get a little funkier.”
Holland’s studio rates range from $65 for a single private lesson of 55 minutes to $90 for a 90-minute workout. She also offers group rates of $35 per hourlong session and $18 rate for a group lesson absent of any of the equipment. She also provides half-hour lessons for kids, and the machines do look like big toys. During a visit, Holland’s 11 year-old son, Kirk, hopped on the Jumping & Stretching Board and happily rode the machine like it were a bicycle.
The adults on hand watched in amazement. To be young again…Las Vegas GYROTONIC is at 231 W. Charleston Blvd., suite 110. For more information call 702-233-4976.
Written by John Katsilometes, LV LIFE magazine, April 2008
