Bicycles from the Leg Lift series on the Gyrotonic Ladder

Exercise of the Week – Bicycles from the Ladder Leg Lift Series

Leg Lift Bicycles: Your Key to a Stronger Core and Better Posture.

Combat Forward Head Posture & Low Back Pain with This Total Body Exercise.

The GYROTONIC® Ladder is a core strengthening masterpiece. Depending on how you place yourself on the Ladder, you’ll strengthen your core with a focus in one of the three planes of motion: front to back, side to side or with rotation. And while you’re moving in one of the planes of motion (sometimes two), you have the stabilize your body in the other plane(s). You’re getting active and static core strength and every exercise is total body.

Around the World from the Waterfall series on the Gyrotonic Ladder

Waterfall Series – Around the World

The height of the ladder allows you to go well below the level of your pelvis and legs, creating a much more challenging exercise. It’s difficult to control your body as you’re lowering and even harder to bring yourself back up.

Climbing the Straps from the Levitation series on the Gyrotonic Ladder

Levitation Series on the Ladder – Climbing the straps

Climbing the straps from the Levitation series on the Ladder

When you’re doing Levitation exercises on the Ladder you’re strengthening your posterior chain: primarily your back muscles and your glutes. And it’s called “levitation” because you’re floating up against gravity. Then wouldn’t using a strap be a little bit of a cheat?

It could but it isn’t in this case.

Side Lying Arch & Curl from the Leg Lift series on the Gyrotonic Ladder

Ladder Leg Lifts – Side Lying Arch Curl

Side Lying Arch & Curl from the Leg Lifts series

This video makes the exercise look deceptively easy. There’s alot going on. One of the most important aspects of core strength is stability. In this exercise you’ve got to stabilize in all three planes of motion.

If you put your arms out to the sides, that is your frontal plane. Anything in front or behind you is your sagittal plane. And when you turn to either the left or the right, that’s your transverse plane. In this side lying exercise on the Ladder, keeping the legs at the same level as the torso (and vise-versa) is stability in the frontal plane. The movement of your legs and upper body is in your sagittal plane and you’ve got to stabilize your pelvis so it stays perpendicular to the padded rung.