Sharrie O’Neal has been working out on the Gyrotonic Expansion System for six years, and she has X-ray proof of a 2 mm increase in the space between her previously compacted T1 and T2 vertebrae to show for it. Although she had been receiving chiropractic treatment for her injury, it wasn’t until she started Gyrotonic exercise that the adjustments started to take.

Gyrokinesis and Gyrotonic (from the Greek words for ‘circling,’ gyro, and ‘stretch,’ exercise have found a following. Developed by Romanian National Ballet dancer Juliu Horvath in the 1970s to improve his own performance and recuperate from injury, his original “Yoga for Dancers” has evolved into a proprietary system that combines moves from yoga, tai chi, dance, Pilates, gymnastics and swimming.

“I work with patients and clients using the Gyrotonic method, and assign Gyrokinesis ‘homework’ to facilitate therapeutic progress between sessions,” says Justine Bernard, DPT, a Gyrotonic master trainer and owner of Elements Fitness and Wellness Center in Washington, D.C. “Both formats contain many of the same movement principles, such as fluid, sequential movement coordinated with conscious breathing. ... I have used the system for patients with neurologic conditions such as cerebral palsy or post stroke to retrain movement patterns, improve range of motion and loosen tissues.”

Gyrotonic exercise uses the Gyrotonic Expansion System, a weight-bearing pulley tower with handles as its main tool, along with four other pieces of specialized equipment, whereas Gyrokinesis exercise is performed as a series of seated, lying and standing exercises more akin to a yoga class.

The basis of the system is an arch and curl (flexion and extension) from which movements extend in fluid rotations that expand range of motion three-dimensionally.

“We don’t use our bodies in a linear way and yet because we exercise and work out linearly that can create stagnation,” says Wahida Sharman, OTR, a Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis trainer who owns EPY Center in Sacramento, Calif. “When the spine has the ability to fluidly extend into all the possible ranges of motion, it can start opening up and healing can expand into the extremities — this is what we mean by three-dimensional.”

The Art
What is it about this system, then, that elevates it above and beyond, say, a treadmill or a weight-training tower? The equipment certainly isn’t cheap, ranging from $1,500 to $5,500, there is barely any published research to go on, and trainers and clinics still are relatively sparse. Its adoption comes largely by word of mouth or referral.

Sharman came to the system because of a stubborn neck injury. Acupuncture and Pilates had helped a little, so when she saw the Gyrotonic in use at a gym in Denver, she signed up for a session.

“During that first session, as the undulation of my spine took the pressure off my arms and neck and brought it into my core, the improvement was so dramatic and so tangible I knew intuitively that I needed to go in that direction for my recovery,” she says.

As a practicing hand therapist, Sharman also saw potential for her patients, but since there were no trainers within 90 minutes of where she lived, she decided to become certified.

“I so often used to see frozen shoulders in patients who had a distal radius fracture, but the piece I was missing as a therapist was that each part of the body is connected to others,” she says. “Now I can mobilize the scapula and the torso so that the radius is ready to be mobilized when the time comes. I no longer separate the torso and the extremities, which is intensely therapeutic.”

The Science
The process was the reverse for Bernard, who came to Gyrotonic exercise as a dancer with a herniated disc and who then became a teacher of the technique.

“I was a Gyrotonic trainer for about six years before I became a PT, but I went back to school because I wanted to learn more about the science behind the system,” she says. “In my practice I have found applications for every population and very individual — in addition to my rehab patients I serve athletes, triathletes and even Olympians who use it for strength and stretching without the strain.”

Undaunted by the dearth of published scientific evidence, Bernard is conducting studies of her own on the effects of Gyrotonic exercise on osteoporosis and on lower back pain. “Based on kinesiology and physiology, these exercises are excellent for many orthopedic conditions,” she said. “Our qualitative data are crystal clear, but we need more subjects for it to be statistically significant.”

When it comes to therapy, there is one statistically significant conclusion — money. While there may be some options depending on the clinic, Gyrotonic exercise and Gyrokinesis are generally not covered by health insurance, so clients are paying $45 to $70 out-of-pocket per session, Sharman says.

However, integrated into therapy, it can be reimbursed, Bernard says. “But just as weight training is considered a standard — and reimbursable — practice in a PT session, Gyrotonic exercise is covered as part of therapeutic protocol.” •

Ceri Usmar is a freelance writer.