Discovering the Importance of Fundamentals for Intermediate Students
by Ani Bundel
Going backward might not sound like progress, but taking a fundamentals class is helpful anytime.
I started the GYROTONIC® method in the summer of 2022, after the pandemic kept me from Pilates for over two years. The practice is somewhat akin to Pilates; it uses a tower and so forth, but it’s also focused on enhancing muscle flexibility through stretching-style exercises rather than just on muscle and core strength training. (No lie, it’s the best stretch class I’ve ever found and has made a profound difference in helping my garbage hips be less of a disaster.)
But I’m not here to break down why I’m in love with the practice as much as I want to emphasize that I struggled for nearly my whole first year doing the stool-and-mat version known as the GYROKINESIS® method. Having little stamina, it was hard to keep pace and get the hang of the dang “flow,” let alone the choreography of the hips, arms, head, and feet. Concentrating on which muscle groups were firing when was simply a step beyond me.
Three years later, as we round into 2026, I’m proud to say I’ve finally graduated to the GYROTONIC® method’s intermediate level exercises, the GYROTONIC® Tower I/II class, which is offered on Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. The GYROTONIC® Fundamentals class is offered on Saturdays at 10:30 a.m.
At first, I figured I’d take the Fundamentals as a refresher/easier version of the class. Besides, I’ve come to Pilates Fundamentals class when it’s the only one that fits my schedule, and if the trainer knows I can do the harder version of an exercise, they’ll just tell me to do that while the rest of the class does the “Prep” version. And anyway, it’s always a trip to discover some muscle group that fires much better than it used to when you’re taking the time to slow it down and really make sure you’re hitting your form right. Makes it feel like progress.
However, I hadn’t really considered just how many fundamentals there are in the GYROTONIC® method. Moreover, my memories of that first year were a little hazy, rose-colored, lots of slow, stretching progress that really helped loosen my quads and make my hips feel a little more square to my body. Clearly, I’d done well; I’m intermediate now, how hard could it have been?
So there I was, in a class where the other two students were learning the GYROTONIC® method’s version of feet-in-straps for the first time, doing a sequence I’ve done nearly every class for the last two years, when Eurona came over and made a slight shift in my form.
Boom, every ab in my body fired and held. Turns out, feet in straps, in this case, is *surprise!* an ab exercise. But I’d been so focused on literally everything else (primarily my hamstrings, but also hip flexors and foot position), I’d overlooked something key to the exercise. Moreover, it made a huge difference the next week, when I attended the intermediate level, because I’d discovered that one tiny change to my form was part of what I'd need to hit the intermediate level.
Turns out, sometimes you really need to go back as you go forward. I’ll see you in the Fundamentals class.
Ani Bundel
Ani Bundel has been blogging professionally since 2010. A DC native Keyboard Khaleesi, she spends her non-writing time taking pictures of her cats and trying to memorize GYROKENESIS® sequences. A Woman's Place Is In Your Face. Cat Approved. Find her on BlueSky and other social media of your choice: @anibundel.bsky.social