Steve Mellon, Post-GazetteDebi Duddy, of Sewickley, gets instruction from Sueann Fenchel during a Gyrotonic session at Wellspring Studio in Shadyside. At left is Dilla Mastrangelo, owner of the studio.
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Susan Finger's hips were getting so bad that she couldn't climb stairs. She also protected her legs when riding the bus because even a slight bump from another passenger would produce a sharp pain. After more than five years searching for the cause, Ms. Finger found that she had arthritis.
The Carnegie Mellon University civil engineering professor decided on an experimental procedure called hip resurfacing, performed at the Joint Replacement Institute in Los Angeles, and most beneficial to "the young and active" patient. "For me it's been miraculous," says Finger, now 56, who had one hip done in 2000 and the other the next year.
As soon as she got out of surgery, Ms. Finger realized that her hips didn't hurt. But there was a lot to be done to regain her strength, a process that took nearly a year. Ms. Finger took 15 sessions of standard therapy, but decided she needed to do "a lot more" and continued the sessions beyond the standard insurance coverage.
In addition, Ms. Finger had been doing Pilates before she even knew she had arthritis. Then she rode the wave of popularity generated by the Pilates exercise regimen into a newer method called Gyrotonic.
"I like both, but prefer Gyrotonic better because it has a lot more freedom of movement," says Ms. Finger, who came back to it after five months of therapy. "Pilates makes the core strong without [Gyrotonic's] range of motion."
She worked at Wellspring Studio on Ellsworth Avenue in Shadyside, one of only two facilities, along with UPMC Center for Sports Medicine on the South Side, that offer Gyrotonic. It is run by co-owners Dilla Mastrangelo and Christopher Potts. Ms. Mastrangelo studied Pilates under Romana Kryzanowska at the Pilates Studio of New York/Performing Arts Physical Therapy and Core Dynamics Pilates' Michele Larsson and Gyrotonic's founder Juliu Horvath. Mr. Potts uses his doctorate in physical therapy from Slippery Rock University, where he is a guest lecturer in alternative medicine, as a base. But he also studied with Mr. Horvath as well to bolster his extensive expertise in Pilates and Myofascial Release.
Both were into Pilates before it became a household word. "Gyrotonic is like Pilates 10 or 15 years ago," says Ms. Mastrangelo. "Where Pilates is more linear, Gyrotonic increases the spinal movement in all directions, improving flexibility in the core muscles or abdominals and providing relief from low back and neck issues."
Gyrotonic founder Mr. Horvath, a Hungarian native, trained as a dancer in Romania and immigrated to the United States where he performed with the New York City Opera and Houston Ballet. Following a career-ending injury to the Achilles tendon, Mr. Horvath turned to yoga, which he took to another level by incorporating principles of swimming, gymnastics and ballet.
He named his new method Gyrokinesis, literally meaning to move in circular or spiral patterns. He paid special attention to the rotation of the spine, which, in combination with deep breathing, resulted in increased strength and flexibility.
By the 1980s Mr. Horvath was dreaming of a machine that would enhance a dancer's training, leading to the development of the Combination Pulley/Tower Unit, which was awarded a medal at the 7th International Invention Convention in Pittsburgh in 1991.
Now Mr. Horvath's Gyrotonic Expansion System is the complete title for a methodology that, like Pilates, employs two different ways to exercise. Like the Pilates Cadillac or trapeze table, Gyrotonic has the tower unit, which with its blond curved wood resembles a piece of Scandinavian art. The nonequipment component is called Gyrokinesis, which uses a stool and a mat to unfold the body.
Gyrotonic's flowing, spiral movements can enhance other techniques in the ever-expanding alternative therapy network that includes Yogilates, Walk-ilates, Cardiolates, Pilates Mat for Two and yes, Golfilates, which balances the muscles disrupted by a one-sided swing.
It's still all about body placement, but Gyrotonic creates a free-flowing energy that Ms. Finger says goes beyond other exercises in making connections. "All of my muscles were really tight," she explains. "But Gyrotonic connects the back through the hips to the legs."
Now her gait, which Ms. Finger has since realized was "really restricted," is normal. More than that, her doctors at the Joint Replacement Institute, where Ms. Finger is part of an ongoing study, are amazed at her range of motion.
"I can jump and run," she exclaims. And those stairs? They're a snap.
For more on Gyrotonic, contact Wellspring Studio at 412-363-6900 or www.wellspring-studio.com or the Anne Brownlee studio in Point Breeze at 412-606-9093
Correction/Clarification: (Published Feb. 2, 2007) In this article about Gyrotonic exercise as originally published on Jan. 24, 2007, the Anne Brownlee studio in Point Breeze was omitted from the list of local studios that offer classes. For more information, call 412-606-9093.
First Published: January 24, 2007, 5:00 a.m.
