Defying gravity - merging of hill running and holistic thought to create new fitness technique called Gravity Training

Gravity Training is a profound system of fitness training that transforms hillsides and mountain slopes into the ultimate health club. Gravity Training combines indigenous African and South American hill running techniques with modern fitness technology. Middle-aged novices and elite athletes are finding in this approach quick results and a rethinking of what they thought was possible in their personal fitness. Researched and developed by Donn and Teyana Viscarra, Gravity Training builds cardiovascular health while achieving dramatic and rapid improvement of body strength and muscle structure.

Working the body's key muscle groups on the incline against the resistance of gravity is the simple key to the benefits of the system. Beginning with improving the cardiovascular system, Gravity Training then moves from the feet upwards, building a foundation layer by layer from the inside out to strengthen and sculpt the body. Simultaneously, as the mind learns to master technique and form, the body experiences breakthroughs and increased ability that can be dramatic from one session to the next. Because it provides the user with a built-in gauge on how the body performs, Gravity Training has provided many with their most effective and lasting bridge to improved diet, lifestyle and general health. The emphasis on working in the natural landscape and the concentration on form and technique also develop emotional and mental conditioning.

Sessions consist of a series of short hill runs, gradually expanding to longer distances in formations and courses marked by cones. Gravity Training also incorporates backpedaling, sidestepping, skipping, jumping and sprinting to develop total fitness in the key muscle groups of the upper and lower body. Trainer supervision is key in the sessions to help participants maintain a high level of motivation, stay in focus and use good form. Courses are individualized to work diagnostically on the body's weaker areas.

"There is a special kind of wisdom that comes from running hills," says Donn Viscarra, who learned about and experienced this ancient exercise form as a child raised in Brazil. "This is one reason why South American and African runners so often rise to the world elite class. The fitness level in both body and mind achieved from hill running goes far beyond what most Americans view as 'being in good shape.' Translating this technology to a format that is accessible to people at any level, from beginner to professional athlete, is what Gravity Training is all about."

Teyana, a vegetarian since age 15, enjoyed physical fitness her entire life. Accomplished in gymnastics, snow and water sports, track and backpacking, she has been a coach and competitor since high school. After college, where she studied physical education, Teyana became an innovator in the area of fitness training. Increasingly disenchanted with the mechanical limitations of indoor training, Teyana was enthusiastic about Donn's hill running routine. The Native American descendent says she felt drawn to the natural outdoors. "The legacy of the spiritual connection to the land and its ability to pull us to the frontier of physical challenge provides something deeper," she says.

"I knew immediately this was what was missing," adds Teyana. "The hills offer the physical training outlet of my dreams. They also provide me with a spiritual pathway that has helped me find peace."

At a point when Donn was recuperating from triple bypass surgery, the couple worked on a comprehensive program for his ultimate health. Pooling their collective knowledge, experience, backgrounds and research, Donn and Teyana developed Gravity Training.

"Most surprising about Gravity Training are the rewards," says Teyana. "What you put into the hill, the hill gives you back many times over. People jogging in areas adjacent to where we train often stop and watch us for a while. When they see a 50-year-old woman running with great form and endurance up the hill, getting stronger each week, they get curious. Next thing, they're taking their first session and discovering the magic and wisdom of the hills for themselves. Even after five years of doing this work, I continue to learn and develop. I still experience new breakthroughs and unending levels of benefit."

"I believe people today are more intelligent about choice and process," adds Donn. "They are beginning to understand big shoulders and large muscles do not necessarily equal fitness." In contrast, Gravity Training enables people to find their body's own wisdom by accepting its challenge, explains Donn. "The hill methodically helps the body build up its weakened areas step by step," he says. "In restoring the body's natural sense of balance, Gravity Training works wonders on the mind and spirit."

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