feature Up Against the Wall The benefits of vertical training The intensity of vertical training exercise engages the whole body as well as the mind. I Jack Kohane is a Toronto-based freelance journalist who writes for several national health-care magazines and the National Post newspaper. Jack Kohane t’s like being Spider-Man when you climb aboard a new exercise modality that’s getting people up the wall. FitWall is an eight-rung, steel apparatus based on the science of vertical training, designed to allow strength-training through leg extensions, intense core work and exercise rehab, using gravity-defying exercises as opposed to the traditional workout-on-the-ground approach. “You actually get on a “wall” as a certified trainer leads you through a demanding and energetic full-body workout, and it is a full-body workout, in 30 minutes with little to no impact on joints,” explains Bonnie Goldmacher, founder of FitWall Canada. “It aims to target and strengthen all your muscles and burn calories, providing cardio, strength and flexibility all at once.” Vertical training uses a multitude of muscles in every movement by taking a par-ticipant from the horizontal plane to the vertical plane. By stepping up no more than six inches onto the FitWall, with no other support or stabilization, the body is forced to turn on all muscles, from fingers to toes. This is said to ignite the muscles and causes more calories to burn in a short period of time. “In as little as a half hour,” claims Goldmacher, “and with the support of a certified FitWall trainer and technol-ogy, the FitWall monitoring system is designed to maximize your workout and give you immediate feedback.” fLAGSHIP STUDIO FitWall Canada recently opened its flagship studio, located in midtown Toronto, of-fering vertical training programs for weight loss and gains in strength, balance and www.canadianchiropractor.ca 22 • CANADiAN CHiROPRACTOR | APRiL 2013
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