New South African invention gets to the core of fitness training

14 April 2009 - Posted by James Raaff in In the press, News

Pilates enthusiasts could soon find themselves being challenged to learn some interesting new exercises and skills in studios around the country, using an innovative piece of exercise equipment recently developed by a South African physiotherapist.

The D-SEBECS, an unstable platform that rests on a flat disc-shaped base fitted with multidirectional castors, acts like a balance board, with any movement on the platform causing the apparatus to slide and tilt in different directions, depending on the direction of the force.  Designed to improve biomotor abilities and movement control, the name says it all: the acronym D-SEBECS stands for Dynamic, Symmetrical Exerciser to improve your Balance, Endurance, Co-ordination and Stability.

Pretoria-based physiotherapist Ryk Eksteen, who works with top athletes, invented the device to meet the need for a challenging exercise rehabilitation accessory and strength-training tool in his industry. He wrote his thesis on the D-SEBECS and tested it while providing physiotherapy services to the Blue Bulls.

Eksteen says the core stabilisers of the body, also referred to as trunk stabilisers, are best trained when moving in an unstable environment. Core stability involves recruiting the trunk muscles to control the position of the lumbar spine during dynamic movements.

Stability ball training is one method of placing the body in an unstable environment, forcing a person to utilise the stabiliser muscles to stay balanced in a given position or through a particular motion, he explains.  In experiments comparing the effectiveness of the D-SEBECS with the stability ball during a shoulder bridging exercise, researchers found that the D-SEBECS was the more effective tool in recruiting the body’s core stabilisers.

When Eksteen's invention came to the notice of Cape Town-based Pilates instructor James Raaff, who has studied sports medicine, the latter immediately realised that the new exercise gadget would hold value for the Pilates community, as training of the core stability muscles in the lower back and abdomen, the trunk, the head and neck, and the pelvic and shoulder girdles is a key focus in Pilates.

Raaff approached Eksteen with the idea of developing a Pilates-based workshop, using the balance board in combination with exercises that would incorporate the sound principles and techniques that his company, James Raaff and Associates, had been teaching and applying for many years.

Following their partnership agreement, Raaff will hold the first workshops in Cape Town in May and in Pretoria in June.  While the D-SEBECS has a wide range of applications and can be beneficially used by many health and fitness professionals including fitness trainers, physiotherapists, biokineticists and even golf coaches, Raaff will aim his initial workshops at Pilates instructors only, teaching them how to use the three dimensional exercise board and introducing them to a range of interesting exercises that challenge the body in different ways, while using the correct Pilates form.

He says Eksteen's invention, which a patent pending, will open up a world of challenging new stability exercises that could not be performed just by doing mat work. Using the product, many mat-based exercises can be adapted to create exercises similar to those done on a Reformer, a sliding platform used in Pilates exercises. Carl Reader, Registered Biokineticist and colleague of Raaff's has achieved some profound results using the low cost, portable training aid with shoulder injuries in golfers.
The new product also has cost advantages. "The price of providing balance boards for a class of 18 people would be less than the cost of purchasing one Reformer, which has a price tag of around R40 000 and can only accommodate one person at a time," says Raaff.  "The D-SEBECS, which costs under **R2 500, is a nice crossover for studio owners or instructors who feel that it’s a big road to take to buy a Reformer and then to spend a huge amount of time learning how to do all the exercises on it."

Another advantage of the D-SEBECS is that after attending a single five-hour workshop Pilates instructors will have enough information and exercises to be able to teach what they have learnt in their own classes the very next day.
Raaff points out that the balance boards will also save studio space. "A key point is that in using this fitness tool you stand on a mat and are confined to the space of that mat, but you are getting the functionality of a Reformer, which takes up a lot more space," he says.

He is excited to be using a South African invention. "We're always importing the bands and other equipment used in Pilates exercises, now here is a gadget that was made on our doorstep out of necessity, which came straight out of Ryk Eksteen’s creative thoughts as a student. We don’t often have a really cool invention by a South African scientist."

A bonus is that the product is eco-friendly.  "It's made of biodegradable materials and there are no mechanical parts. It's not battery-operated or driven by any other source of power, so there are no carbon emissions," says Raaff.
The D-SEBECS/Pilates workshops will be held in Cape Town on Saturday, May 23, and in Centurion on Saturday, June 27. The Cape Town venue will be Virgin Active’s Wembley Club in Gardens, and the Pretoria workshop will be held at Virgin Active in Centurion. "Spaces will be limited to 30 people per workshop as there will be high degree of interaction in each class and a focus on teaching good techniques, which are essential to maximise the effectiveness of the product and ensure safe usage," says Raaff.

The balance boards will be available for purchase at a special price at the workshops, and Raaff will provide an exercise manual showing exercise clips to each person who attends. The cost of the workshop is R900 – there are special offers available on the D-Sebecs for workshop attendees. Early-bird special of R750 if you book and pay 2 weeks in advance (8 May for CT; 12 June for Centurion, Gauteng)

For more information or to book, contact James Raaff and Associates on info@jamesraaffandassociates.com or 021 465 2870.