Bodywall Sydney North Shore is a unique and innovative training apparatus to promote strength, speed and flexibility.
The Bodywall is a specialised training and rehabilitation invention developed in New Zealand. When you stretch on your own, or with a partner, a point is reached where either the muscle spindles or Golgi Tendon Organs (found in muscle tendons) are activated to resist being over stretched. This is a built-in safety mechanism that prevents damage, in the form of tearing, to the muscular and fascial tissue. Whilst preventing tearing in certainly a desired effect, you may find it difficult to get the stretch your muscles need to restore them to proper functioning.
Many upper body stretches require you to grab ahold of something to pull against. When you grip, you contract many muscles, most particularly those in your forearm. Whilst you may experience a degree of “stretching sensation”, you are still relatively contracted, or “unstretched”, throughout part of the kinetic chain. Strictly speaking, stretching in this way will never achieve a true release of muscle and fascial tissue. Alternatively, if you had a partner pull the limb for you, you may well also find yourself fighting against this stretch.
When using the Bodywall, you wear specially designed gloves and shoes that have an incredible grip technology. This allows you to place your open palm on the carpeted Bodywall. The special gloves and shoes allow you to support your body weight whilst dropping down or pulling across the wall. You can perform a seemingly infinite number of stretches without unnecessarily contracting the muscles needed to be stretched.
This method of stretching is extremely safe, pain-free, and achieves
amazing increases in ranges of motion. You, and you alone are always in
control of the stretch so there is no reason for your muscle spindles or
Golgi”s to activate before a full stretch is achieved.
Initially developed as an aid for stretching, Bodywall was quickly
recognised as having amazing training capabilities as well. In fact, it
has been utilised by many professional New Zealand sporting teams. It is
not restricted to the use of professionals however, there are hundreds
of exercises suited to any level of fitness and skill.
Up to two people can be trained at the same time on the Bodywall. You
can run and jump on pads thereby limiting impact on ankles, knees and
hip joints. There are also other training aids used in combination with
the Bodywall, such as ropes, resistance bands and medicine balls to make
the workouts more varied. If done correctly, you can put tension
through muscles far in excess of what can be achieved in a weights room.
In a normal gym setting, you always run the risk of lifting weights you perhaps should not be lifting. Using the Bodywall eliminates this risk and teaches you to produce tension in your muscles in a unique way. All sports can be catered for and it is a brilliant rehabilitation training system.
Bodywall is the perfect complement to your training program. Most of
all, it is a fun way to train, but do not be fooled, you will finish a
session dripping wet and exhausted. One really needs to try it to fully
understand it’s capabilities as it is so different from most other
training modalities. For more information about training using the
Bodywall, you should contact Mick McCleary at Bodywall North Shore. Mick has kindly offered patients of mine at North Sydney Sports and Chiropractic a free session and discounted training packages. What are you waiting for? Take him up on it!
*DISCLAIMER: This discussion does not provide medical advice. The
information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and
other material contained in this discussion are for informational
purposes only. The purpose of this discussion is to promote broad
consumer understanding and knowledge of various health topics. It is not
intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis
or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other
qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding
a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health
care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay
in seeking it because of something you have read in this blog.
