The Studio for GYROTONIC^® and Pilates Exercise

Within Metrosport Athletic Club is an 800 sq. ft. studio with hardwood floors, high ceilings and mirrors that overlooks the club's Olympic-sized pool.  This space is dedicated to the GYROTONIC^® and Pilates methods of exercise and is open to members and the public.  Studio owner Marybeth Chiti is a certified instructor of Pilates machine and mat work, and a certified teacher trainer in GYROTONIC^® exercise and its companion mat work GYROKINESIS^® exercise. She is an authorized pre-trainer for GYROTONIC^® exercise.

GYROTONIC^® and GYROKINESIS^® Exercise

All sporting activities demand strength, flexibility, coordination and range of motion.  The GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM^® provides tomorrow's and today's super athletes not only with all of the above, but with greater degrees of endurance, versatility and gracefulness to all performed competitive skills and movements.  The GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM^® is used worldwide with great success by hospitals and chiropractic offices to help with rehabilitation after injuries, and by people of all walks of life from children to senior citizens for general conditioning.  MetroSport is the only athletic facility on the east coast to offer this form of conditioning.

The GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM^® was specially conceived based on key principles of gymnastics, swimming, ballet and yoga, through which major muscle groups are worked interdependently and in an integrated manner.  Unlike most conventional exercise machines whose linear or isolated movement patterns can create uncoordinated strength, the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM^® emphasizes multiple joint articulation while strengthening the surrounding ligaments, including their attachments.

The motion patterns are natural, turbulence-free and pure with no interruption, creating a bridge between contraction and extension.  Through the rotating movement patterns of the joints, a balanced support system for the skeleton is created.  The exercises are performed through spherical awareness and circularity of movement, enabling the user to perform under permanent guidance and variable controlled resistance, allowing real sports simulation with no limitation to speed and impact.  Each exercise is synchronized with a corresponding breathing pattern and is performed with either a rhythm or melodic rhythmical expression, creating a gentle or forceful cardiovascular-aerobic simulation, depending on the intensity and speed of execution.

Special attention is paid to increase the functional capacity of the spine, resulting in a superior, well-proportioned body that is significantly less prone to injuries and long-term accumulation of micro-trauma.  Extraordinary gains in flexibility and essential strength are realized, culminating in organic rejuvenation, increased vitality and vigor.

The Pilates Method of Conditioning

The Studio for GYROTONIC^® and Pilates Exercise offers the Pilates conditioning experience, once available only to professional dancers and elite athletes.  Pilates-based conditioning facilitates the development of lean, elongated muscles and functional movement that relates directly to activity or sport.  Through accurate practice and alignment, deep breathing is coordinated with each movement, encouraging abdominal support of the spine, torso and limbs as well as increasing oxygen uptake. 

Conditioning programs using the studio machines developed by Joe Pilates are able to address strength, elasticity, range of motion and coordination.  Exercises developed on these machines utilize all planes of movement and a variety of different motion dynamics.  These exercises are in accord with current sports and dance medicine research and practice, and current physiological, kinesthetic and biomechanical principles of exercise.

Individuals with a wide range of fitness levels, technical proficiencies and affinities for different activities can benefit from professional instruction on Pilates machines.  The goal of each individually tailored session is to develop strength over an expanded range of motion, while giving the client a satisfying experience of flow in which awareness is increased and concentration is refreshed.

The wide variety of exercises adds an element of creativity to the process of conditioning, and the innovation and challenge of the session provide revitalized concentration for virtually every aspect of life.  The satisfaction of mastering smooth execution of movements carries over into daily activity, sports or performance.

Studio owner Marybeth Chiti instructs private and semi-private sessions in the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM^® , group classes in GYROKINESIS^®, and private and semi-private sessions in Pilates machine work.  All sessions in the Studio for GYROTONIC^® and Pilates Exercise are by appointment only.  Call 286-7529 ext. 8.

All photographs taken at MetroSport by Melissa Chiti.