Orbital Technology

Orbital Technology: Rewriting the standards of fitness and rehab

Orbital technology is unique in both its structure and function. It's concept has been crafted after the body's own ball & socket joint mechanism. This type of design provides the Orbital 360 with its variable movement patterns as well as it's adjustable friction based resistance components.

The motion capabilities of the Orbital 360 include both linear and rotational movements. This is especially significant as virtually all traditional exercise against resistance employs linear movements that involve a "lifting" and "lowering" phase and is more isolative to the muscle group(s) being exercised. Although this is the current standard of exercise execution, this in no way replicates accurately the way the body moves from a functional standpoint.

The ball and socket mechanism of Orbital 360 technology provides for multi-dimensional rotational and linear motion against constant and consistent resistance. This allows the body to be exercised against resistance throughout multiple planes concurrently and involves entire kinetic chains of muscle groups and body regions which is much more functional to the way the body performs, naturally.

To truly appreciate the innovation of the Orbital, it is important to examine the current standards of classification regarding fitness and rehab equipment in order to substantiate the Orbital's unique qualities.

Beginning with exercise, the traditional classifications of exercise can be broken down into 3 distinct categories; Isokinetic, Isometric and Isotonic,. Each category is defined as follows.

Isokinetic exercise refers to exercise performed on specific machines that provide variable resistance, but regardless of the exertion an individual puts out, the speed of the movement is constant, hence the term, Iso-meaning "equal" or "same" and "Kinetic" referring to motion. The 1980's and early '90's saw an infusion of Isokinetic exercise programs in many fitness and rehab centers, however anecdotal evidence eventually showed the benefits to be negligible. For example the U.B.E (Upper Body Ergometer), which has the ability to adjust the speed or RPM’s.

Isometric exercise is a form of exercise which involves the static contraction of a muscle without movement in the angle of the joint associated with that muscle. The word "isometric" combines the word "Iso" (same) with "metric" (distance), meaning that in these exercises the length of the muscle does not change. This type of exercise is usually done by applying pressure to a fixed object such as a door way or wall where tension in the muscle is created without any movement. Studies have shown that isometric exercise is effective in increasing strength in muscles, but that strength is limited to the specific angles that the joint is in when the exercises are performed rather than an overall strengthening effect.

Isotonic exercise refers to the "equal tone" or fixed resistance, a term that is traditionally associated with free weights, weight machines or elastic device training. The premise is that the resistance that a muscle is working against remains the same as it moves throughout a range of motion, usually through a linear plane involving concentric and eccentric contractions. The joint angles change as a movement is performed. Isotonic exercise has shown to have the greatest overall benefit to muscle strengthening and has been the standard for both fitness and rehab for many years.

Due to factors such as leverage, vectors, and gravity, however, the resistance that the muscles works against in isotonic movements, in practice, does NOT remain constant as the term would suggest. There is a relative variation of resistance throughout the range of motion due to those factors mentioned above (leverage, angels, etc). Although the resistance being employed may be constant, it actually changes relative to joint angles as the individual moves throughout the lifting and lowering phases of traditional exercise. The Orbital 360 technology can be considered a true example of isotonic exercise as you have a situation where the resistance, once set, remains constant and consistent as one moves throughout any range of motion. It is not effected by leverage, vector or gravity because the resistance is created from friction rather than being gravity-based. Due to the mechanics of the machine itself, the Orbital 360 does not provide linear-type resistance. It can provide not only constant and consistent resistance (versus variable) but can also do so throughout multiple planes concurrently.. The speed of motion varies according to the user, thus is not Isokinetic and can be classified as pure isotonic exercise.

Furthermore, anecdotally, Orbital 360 technology has proven to provide a significantly more functionally-developed strength and stability for the individual user, since the body is being exercised regionally and more synergistically where entire kinetic chains are being engaged, rather than the traditional isotonic exercise which is isolative and linear in application.

In consideration of its unique properties, the Orbital 360 can be classified as a non-measuring medical exercise device, effectively configured to address wheelchair bound individuals as well as those with physical and functional challenges. A number of syndromes that have been effectively treated to date include lower back pain, shoulder pain, tennis elbows, arthritic wrists and musculoskeletal pain of the hip joints, to name a few.

With this in mind, it can certainly be asserted that the Orbital 360 technology does, in fact re-write the current accepted standards of both functional fitness and rehab as well. Its unique structural and functional qualities will change the way in which both rehab and fitness dynamics are viewed. The application of how we improve fitness and restore function must be in alignment synergistically with the body's own functional dynamics and the Orbital 360 technology is most congruent with these principles than any other machines or methods to date.