Graceful and dream-like, Daniel is a picture of what a motivated adult can do with our courses. He articulates his movements in ways that make you wonder over the fact that he didn't start training with GymnasticBodies until he was 40 years old. Daniel is thorough, however, and he methodically addressed every basic exercise until mastery. This means taking on the challenge to understand muscle activation and applying it, one motion at a time.

It is this very ideology that builds GymnasticBodies. No muscle is neglected from fingertip to toe, because all are utilized and necessary to achieve the movements that make GST so mesmerizing (and fun!). Training like this means—even for strong athletes—addressing mobility and movements often neglected. The physical results are incredible.

Daniel had to go back and train his muscles how to move through a full range of motion, in spite of a solid pilates background. "My body had never been challenged to this extent in muscle activation and active mobility. GB spurred me to take another look at my training regime." Now, at age 44, he claims that even his past injuries have disappeared. And Daniel remains an ever-positive, highly motivated individual, whose work ethic, paired with GB methodology, have yielded results that are something to awe over.

Your Journey to Get There

Fluidity in movement means your body is properly prepped to bend and sway, while using strength to take you further. Maybe you’d like your body to become a living, breathing version of the powerful water metaphor.

Your body can move just like nature – all that’s required is to build it by developing both strength and mobility – simultaneously. Our students have found freedom of movement through active mobility work. The GB methodology doesn’t say: today is stretching, tomorrow is building strength – rather we use bodyweight-based exercises from Foundation One along with the Stretch Series to create coherant movement that helps you develop both.

Begin training your fluid movement by working the basics first, in order to restore function. You may be more advanced in certain areas of strength and lacking them in mobility, or vice versa. But if you take the time to master each step, you’ve created a body capable of full movement, and seamless control.

Try this drill to kickstart your mobility:

As pictured above by GymnasticBodies Athlete Yoni, we might not initially see how many elements of his body are working together. As Yoni describes: “The most fun about [GB] training is learning my body and activating muscles I didn’t know how to activate.”

Strength and Mobility Combined: The Side Pancake Bend

Try it out for yourself! This side pancake bend isn’t ONLY a stretch – it’s actively engaging strength along a full range of motion – the movement now becomes active engagement. This gives your body the chance to assimilate a water-like and seamless movement.

SET-UP & CUES:

Begin in a pancake position – outside, at home, or anywhere that suits you. Now, start by bending one knee, and reach over your head towards the opposite toe, keeping your torso forward facing. (Bonus if you can look at the ceiling or sky!) You will feel a stretch from your hip to your elbow. Try holding this stretch on each side for 30 seconds. Imagine limbering from your fingertips all the way through the obliques and hamstrings.

Keep these Cues in Mind:

1.  Engage your quads
2.  Point your toes
3.  Open through the shoulders
4.  Reach for your feet
5.  Feel the stretch through the obliques and lats

Remember that although this drill looks simple, it requires progressions and consistency to do it correctly. After beginning with a bent knee, work your way to straight legs. You’ll begin to notice big things happening: you are mobilizing and strengthening your body by engaging your muscle under tension.

Once your body is balanced, building strength and accomplishing new skills comes much more easily. At GymnasticBodies, we’ve built our programs around helping you throughout your individual journey. Whether you have previous injuries, spend a lot of time in a sedentary desk position, or have imbalanced training, we’ll help you even everything out. Our Forum Community, team of Performance Coaches and Video Review System are tools that we’ve created to help you get the most out of your at-home training.

Let us know how you’re doing! Tag us on Instagram using #gymnasticbodies & #gbbuilt to share your success. The GymnasticBodies Courses open up a world of potential for you to build a strong and mobile body that will better suit you for a lifetime.