Running Reimagined: GYROTONIC® Techniques for Endurance and Agility
Blog Content Interviews // March 29, 2024
Introduction
Chantal Deeble and Robert Meggle have co-authored a GYROTONIC® course specifically tailored for runners, but also beneficial for any trainer whose clients are interested in walking or running. The inspiration for the course came from conversations with Juliu Horvath, creator of the GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® Methods, who encouraged Chantal back in 2013 and shared ideas directly leading to the development of this specialized curriculum. Robert, with his extensive background as a competitive runner, later approached Juliu and Gina with a similar concept, leading to a collaboration with Chantal to combine their expertise and passion for running.
The Applications for Runners course addresses the biomechanics of running and walking, starting with the foundation of creating healthy, functional feet and progressing through exercises that can improve performance and reduce injury risk. This three-day course will offer trainers a mixture of lectures about running biomechanics, hands-on exercises, and exclusive content developed by Juliu such as the Cardiovascular Breathing Program. Trainers can find schedules for Chantal and Robert’s courses with the Teacher Training Course Finder, as well as their respective websites and social media platforms, opening up an array of training opportunities to a global community.
Gyrotonic Applications for Runners
Chantal: The very first time I spoke with Juliu about Applications for Runners was in April of 2013, during an Archway course in Miami. I was in training that year to run the New York City Marathon. I happened to be sitting right next to Juliu. I had done a long run the day before, and I started chatting with him about it.
Chantal Deeble
I had thought for a long time about Applications for Runners, but I had never brought it up, until then. It was still in formative thoughts, out in the ether. He turned to me and he said, “This should be a course.” I still have the notes, when something would come to him, he turned to give me ideas. By the end of that course, I confirmed with him I had permission to start creating Gyrotonic Applications for Runners. He said yes!
The next time I saw him was in October of that year. The New York Marathon is the first Sunday of November. There was a Gyrokinesis Level Two Course in October that I went to. Again, I had a 20-mile run on one of our days off. On the last day, he did one of those things where we all walked around. He and I walked together for a while. He was giving his insight and wishing me well for my marathon So that’s 2013, and then, when was it, Robert? Was it 2017, 2018 that you started speaking with Gina and Juliu?
Robert: I think 2018. I had a talk with Juliu when we were in Münstertal at a rejuvenation course. We had a nice dinner, and then we talked about the book Born to Run, which is very famous. He read it, and me too. A few weeks later, I asked Gina if I could make a course for runners. She told me about Chantal. I didn’t know Chantal then. I met Chantal the first time was in Münstertal.
Chantal: Robert and I didn’t know each other, but he became a master trainer. Robert has a huge running background. He went to Gina and Juliu with this same idea, Gyrotonic Applications for Runners. Their response was, “We have a master trainer who already has been given permission to author this, but we think that you guys would co-author this really beautifully together.”
Robert Meggle with Runners Group
The next time I was in The Black Forest, they called a meeting with me and presented that idea to me. I was thrilled. I hadn’t met him yet, but I trust Gina and Juliu implicitly. If you guys say he’s an amazing master trainer, I’m excited. Let’s do it. So, it went from there. Robert and I got in contact pretty immediately and started strategizing how we would co-create a course from across the Atlantic. He’s based in Heitersheim in Germany, and I’m based in New York City. It started from there and it’s been an absolute pleasure to work together with Robert. We had our inaugural course in January of 2020.
Robert: Yes. So, running was always my passion. It was my favorite activity since I was a child. I remember running through the school yards in kindergarten. Every time there was a break in school, I used it for running. I was doing sports where I needed the running, like playing soccer. I went into track and field club, and then I started to train more in sprinting.
In my 20s, I was quite a good sprinter. I ran the German championships. My special discipline was the 400m, but I had to stop that career because of many injuries. I had problems with my muscles, my Achilles tendons, and that stopped my career. I also stopped running because at that time it was not possible to run anymore.
I started a family. I was studying sports. I worked in a rehabilitation center exercising and training with people who needed my help. Then I found the Gyrotonic System and did my pre-training foundation with Paul Horvath and became a master trainer. I also started running again, but this time I was not sprinting. I started to do longer distances. I did a 100-kilometer run in Switzerland. I did a lot of ultra-trails in the Alps.
A lot of runners have injuries. We planned a course where we can help them with exercises to treat and prevent. We also want to bring people back to running who had bad experiences. Others, who already run, can gain through the course, new exercises, and the materials we’ve created.
Chantal Deeble teaching Gyrotonic Applications for Runners
Chantal: We start from the ground up. Creating a solid foundation – our healthy, awakened, fully functional feet. We also create an understanding of our feet. We can very easily feel they’re this distal part of our bodies. We don’t pay a lot of attention to them. We created, in our course, an understanding of how our feet are supposed to be. We give tools for people to evolve their feet if their feet have been cramped into shoes and they’re not well-aligned, well-spread, or well-articulating, and not communicating with the floor.
Another application would be healthy aging because healthy feet provide better balance. Loss of balance, and falling, is one of the biggest problems for people who are going into their later years. The foundations of the feet go right up the chain with better knees, better hips, and a better spine. Everything functions better with the foundations properly attended to.
There are two distinct ways the course can be used. It can either be used in conjunction with a training run (either pre or post) or you can use it on days that you don’t run for cross-training. There’s a lot of material in three days. We provide a lot of strategies for people to be able to joyfully run-free. I think it’s becoming one of our catch terms. Right, Robert? Run-free?
Robert: Yeah
Chantal: And to not be afraid of running. There are so many people who run and get injured. It’s documented. The purpose of this course is for people to not be afraid of running. Evolutionarily, we’re designed to run, and not just run, but run pain-free. We have the inherent structures in our body to do that. We just need to uncover them for people and give them tools to tap into those inherent structures and train them.
Runners Group
Robert: Everybody who walks and runs have the same health benefits. For some people, it’s better to walk than to run. We want to have people give this a try again because running is a joy, and fun, and a pleasure that I would like to share with everybody.
Chantal: Any trainer who has clients who walk or run, as Robert said, That’s succinct and it’s not an exaggeration. If we can Inspire joy with something as simple as the act of walking, what if we take it a little farther? We’ve had plenty of people who come to the course who’ve never run before, and by the end of the course they start trying to run. They get inspired. They see that they can do it pain-free with the techniques and the information that we share. It’s really inspiring for us to see that inspired in people, whether it’s walking or running.
Sitting is the new smoking. Just to get people walking and running is amazing. I really don’t think that there is a trainer who won’t benefit from taking this course, whether they perceive themselves as a runner or not.
Robert: They get a little bit of a lecture at the beginning, and an understanding of human evolution. That we are built to run and to walk. Also, a little bit about biomechanics, and how running functions. Then we have Gyrokinesis Format for Runners, where we start with the feet and then it goes through the whole body. We have a lot of material on the Pulley Tower and the Handle Unit, which focus on the most important parts for runners like psoas, piriformis, and hamstrings.
Runners Class
Then we share all that Juliu gave us. I say to the students at the end if they go out and run, it should finish in pleasure. That’s also what Juliu says. Every exercise must finish in pleasure. Same for the running.
We’re both teaching quite a lot. We have great opportunities. There are so many studios. It’s really turning out quite beautifully. The reach that we have in our geographical communities and our further, global communities is beautiful. I’m always so excited to see where you’re teaching in the communities that you’re reaching. Robert.
The spirit of our course is creating an understanding. Then we can have an experience of joy and freedom in running and an open, playful attitude with our teaching style. We’re there to learn, but we’re also creating an environment where we can be curious. We invite everybody to come and experience it. We hope people do.
Trainers can search for upcoming class offerings of the GYROTONIC® Applications for Runners with the Teacher Training Course Finder.
Chantal Deeble is the owner and studio-director of Kinespirit Studios. You can connect with her studio on Facebook (Kinespirit Circle: Portland Pilates & Gyrotonic & Kinespirit Riverside: NYC Pilates & Gyrotonic) or on Instagram (@kinespirit). View her trainer profile here.
Robert Meggle is teaches courses at GYROTONIC® Munstertal. You can connect with the studio on Facebook (Gyrotonic Münstertal at Münstertäler Hof) or on Instagram (@gyrotonicmuenstertal). View his trainer profile here.
Want to read more? Take a look at some of these other inspiring stories from our community:
An Olympic Runner’s Perspective on Training with the GYROTONIC® Method
Complementing your Pilates Practice with the GYROTONIC® Method
How the GYROTONIC® Method Can Improve Training For High Level Athletes
To find Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis classes near you, you can use our Studio Finder tool.
To learn more about how to become a Gyrotonic or Gyrokinesis Trainer, visit our Teacher Training page.
