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Freedom of Movement by Dana Thompson

When it comes to exercise, I’ve been in somewhat of a rut. While I appreciate the endorphins of any good workout, I prefer a solo run or a swim where I can zone out. This used to work for keeping off unwanted pounds and inches, but as I’ve gotten older — and my metabolism is practically screeching to a halt — even a long, grueling run, while still helpful to my mental state, doesn’t have the same impact on my body that it used to.

I may have found the answer. I recently had the opportunity to try Kinesis™, a fitness system that combines resistance and strength training with cardio exercises and Pilates-yoga type exercises. It left me sweating and, while not completely mindless, was rather zen-like. I loved it.

The Kinesis™ family of equipment, developed in 2005 by Italian athletic equipment company TechnoGym Inc., is named after the Greek word for “movement” and is designed just for that — allowing people 360 degrees of rotational motion through the use of a three-dimensional continuous closed-loop cable pulley system.

The company story is that Nerio Alessandri, a lifelong sports and mechanics enthusiast and the founder and president of TechnoGym, was inspired after watching his children play. Alessandri challenged TechnoGym’s R&D team — giving them full creative license — to brainstorm and come up with a machine that mimics the total freedom and uninhibited movement of kids at play.

“The idea,” says Mike Cole, TechnoGym’s production manager for Kinesis North America, “was to create a piece of equipment that allows the body to move in the way it wants to naturally.”

TechnoGym’s Kinesis™ continuous loop cable system means there is no restriction on the direction, distance or type of movement a person can make on the equipment. Resistance is controlled by your proximity to the machine — getting closer eases the resistance, while moving farther away increases it. This makes it a versatile, yet individualized tool for building strength and flexibility. You control your own intensity level by the amount of resistance and the number of repetitions you choose to do, and each movement, whether pulling, pushing or lifting, is very fluid, almost meditative.

“Kinesis™ is really a revolutionary way of tuning the body, allowing you to move in every possible direction just as you do in the activities of everyday life,” says Laura Robinson, a licensed dietitian, physical therapist and former Division 1 track and field athlete, who, along with her husband, former professional NFL player Jeff Robinson, offers Kinesis™ at 5focus in South Lake Union. “Because of its rotational components, the machine causes your core to fire at a higher intensity — all your core muscles are forced to work, to keep balanced, strengthening the spine from the inside out.”

There are five versions of Kinesis™ equipment, including a self-contained unit for home use that utilizes the same closed-loop cable system. The one I used at 5focus is called a Kinesis™ Circuit. It resembles a gently undulating wave divided into four wood-paneled independent work stations – Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta — each of which addresses certain planes of movement with the cable handles either up high, at mid-body or at floor level.

“Kinesis™ is a great translation of Pilates and yoga through a resistance machine, but with less potential for injury,” says Valerie Burlingame, a longtime yoga instructor as well as Kinesis’™ trainer and one of the founders of Vera Fitness, which offer Kinesis™ at its all-women studio near Green Lake. “It’s very easy with yoga and Pilates to move beyond the natural stability of your joints, but with Kinesis™ everything refers back to your core, causing greater stabilization and leaving less likelihood of injury.”

Only four people can work on the Kinesis™ circuit at any given time; thus it works well for small-group interval training, with up to eight people rotating back and forth between the equipment and floor cardio exercises, usually at 30-second to one-minute intervals.

It is this interval training and constant utilization of different muscles that makes Kinesis™ a powerful conditioning experience. “Our bodies are very efficient,” says Mary Kuzmick, a certified fitness trainer who teaches at both Vera Fitness and 5focus in South Lake Union. “The longer you do the same exercise – like running – the more efficient you become and the less energy you burn. With Kinesis™, you’re doing different movements all the time, confusing your muscles and forcing your body to constantly adjust, which increases your metabolism and helps you burn fat.”

“There is no one activity that solves all the body’s physical needs, which are flexibility, strength-training, cardiovascular health and balance,” says fitness and Kinesis™ instructor Tricia Murphy-Madden. “So the great thing about Kinesis™ is that it hits two of these — strength training and cardiovascular health, and can also work on balance.”

“I love it,” says 42-year-old Kathy Sheldon, a real estate agent who has taken Kinesis™ classes three times a week for the past three years. “I can go in for a quick 45-minute workout, be totally absorbed and leave everything behind.”

During my own Kinesis™ session, my muscles definitely had to make a few adjustments – for the next couple of days I felt muscles I didn’t even know I had. But as for that exercise rut I’ve been in….I just may have found my way out.

Dana Thompson is a freelance writer and mother of two, now trying to figure out how to make the trek from Bainbridge to Seattle for her Kinesis™ fix.

LOCAL STUDIOS OFFERING KINESIS™

Denali Fitness
3257 16th Avenue W., Suite A, Seattle
206-282-7400
www.denalifitness.com
Denali Fitness at Interbay was the first facility in Washington to provide Kinesis™ equipment, and the club regularly offers eight 45-minute Kinesis™ Experience small group training classes as part of its wider menu of fitness options. In each closed class, six participants rotate through the four Kinesis™ modules multiple times, working different muscle groups in intervals of approximately one minute. Most Denali members use Kinesis™ as a cross-training tool in addition to their other workout routines or athletic endeavors.

5focus
1009 8th Avenue N, Seattle
206-631-2818
www.5focus.com
Originally intended as a Pilates studio, 5focus turned into a whole-body wellness and fitness studio centered around Kinesis™ when founders Laura and Jeff Robinson literally changed their business plan overnight after trying Kinesis™ at Denali Fitness. 5focus offers three to five classes daily Monday through Saturday, in addition to massage, fascial stretch therapy™, nutritional counseling and an organic café.

Vera Fitness
6845 Oswego Place NE, Seattle
206-453-4632
www.verafitness.com
Vera Fitness is an all-women boutique group and personal training studio that uses its Kinesis™ wall in conjunction with cardio equipment to help women reach their fitness goals. Each woman works with a personal fitness trainer to set nutritional, fitness and weight goals and follows a one-hour personalized workout session in a small group setting, focusing on flexibility, cardio and strength training.

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