CoreAlign for Balanced Body: a new fitness trend
I just came back from the largest fitness convention and trade show in the U.S., IHRSA, the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association. They have lots of seminars that are business-oriented for health clubs, personal trainers, and studio owners. They also have one mondo trade show where you can see pretty much everything new that’s out there and play with them all.
My favorite new thing coming out of the convention is the CoreAlign system by Balanced Body.
It doesn’t look like much really; a ladder with some slidy things that you stand on (or put your hands on) and move around. But boy does this sucker challenge you. My quads are still reminding me of my half-hour workout on Saturday.
I like it enough that I’m getting two for my Pilates studio and these are pretty pricey machines at $3,500 a pop.
Here’s what’s so great about them:
- Developed by Jonathan Hoffman, a physical therapist with an extensive background in orthopedic PT.
- Over 600 exercises (comparable to Pilates) have been created for this piece of equipment. That’s a plethora of ways to challenge a client.
- Lots of progressive exercises; you start with something simple and then add a twist to make it harder and then another twist for even more challenge. I went from a ho-hum exercise to dripping in sweat in about five minutes flat.
- Great for athletes! I can’t wait to get my weekend warriors and serious athletes on this thing.
- Challenging for core and neuromuscular coordination. You’re mostly standing when you use this device so you’re always challenging your stability. You’re also moving in a way that you’re body isn’t used to so you’re challenging coordination. It’s a great wake up call to your body.
I’m embedding a video so you can get an idea of how it works.
What do you think? Does it look cool to you? Would you want to try it?
Lisa
Twitter
Oooo… I’m dying to get on that!
I did an hour overall of exercises. Half with the venerable Elizabeth Larkham and half with Jonathan the inventor. Also watched Valentin go at it for 30 minutes with a jock dude. Lots of variety, lots of options for clients. Elizabeth says all her clients do half with the Pilates equipment and half with the CoreAlign now, that’s how much she likes it.
Lisa
Thanks Lisa for sharing your experience at IHRSA. We offer CoreAlign trainings as a pre-con at all of our Pilates on Tour events and at other CoreAlign Host Sites in the US and abroad.
Thanks Al, it was great to meet you and talk about CA. Looking forward to a training … L–
hi i wanna know how to buy a corealing in brazil, could you help me? Thanks…
Hi Thais, all sales go through Balanced Body they are Pilates.com. Send ‘em an email and see what happens. :) L–