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"I want to try that now!", actor Miguel Ángel Muñoz replied to Blanca Suárez in the singer's video about the latest fitness toy that has gone as viral as her. "How funny!", added the presenter Cristina Pedroche with the same enthusiasm. We've also seen journalist Lara Álvarez riding this indoor skateboard, with a million views and hundreds of comments.

And, of course, the owner and protagonist herself, the former elite athlete, physiotherapist and coach Crys Dyaz, CEO of its eponymous center. We went to his second space in Madrid, recently opened in the Grand Café La Finca shopping centre, in Pozuelo de Alarcón, to learn first-hand how this curious machine works.

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FROM BRAZIL TO MADRID

"I love researching, I'm very restless in this sense, I'm always looking for different training methods, places that can inspire me or devices that can complete me and one day I came across V12 on Instagram, on a Brazilian account that I like a lot because it shows a very conscious work with the core," explains Dyaz. He quickly got in touch with the supplier. "They sold it to me, but they couldn't take it to Spain," he says.

Through his best friend he got it, installed it in his new center and, since then, it has not stopped going viral. "We are the only place in Spain that has it, and in Europe. It's incredible the millions of views, thanks also to the fact that Lara Álvarez, Blanca Suárez, Laura Matamoros and several footballers from Atlético de Madrid and Real Madrid have come out, generating even more attention".

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BENEFITS & UTILITY

It looks fun and eye-catching, but is it really useful? Crys Dyaz is adamant: "You work without impact in a very intense way and that allows you a lot of possibilities." A priori, at base, its greatest potential is abdominal training, explains the fitness entrepreneur, but also "the strength-endurance in the legs if you train long sets, you can include more exercises with accessories, such as dumbbells and kettlebells and, most importantly, when you find yourself on such an unstable surface, it forces you to maintain mental focus".

Because, many times, Crys Dyaz continues, we go to heaven while we train and we don't get the most out of the sessions as much as we should. "If you work in static it's easier to think about everything you have pending, and this prevents you from doing so because if it happens you go to the ground," he says with a smile.

With good concentration, this device is a perfect calorie burner and we can vouch for it. "In menopause we are using it a lot, because it seems that it is a stage related to low intensity and it is not like that. Strength is essential from the age of 40 and here it can be done without impact."

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IS IT FOR EVERYONE?

It's hard to get the balance at first, but once you do, you can use it without any major problems. "You can train on it in a million ways, even with pathologies or for pregnant women in very specific jobs. In these cases we adapt exercise and resistance, but 90% of people can use it, because it allows it to be regulated and made stable or mobile," he says.

To introduce it into a full body workout, that is, exercise from head to toe, as Crys Dyaz likes to train, leaving the rest, you can alternate with strength cardio of the arms, legs and abdomen, he exemplifies. "For aerobic or cardio I go for a stationary bike, a treadmill, a rower or an elliptical. And in the strength-endurance phase, I introduce sets of 45 seconds of work and 15 seconds of skate rest, working my abdomen, arms and glutes every minute."

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THE FASHIONS

Now, it makes you sweat like crazy. What would you say to the defenders of fundamental movements? These fitness professionals assure that everything is invented and that the rest are fads or currents that come and go. "I agree on this too, the basic patterns and the exercises of a lifetime have to be done. They are the pillar. But I'm not a black and white person, I stick to the grays." Training is important, he says, but we need to make more progress on other care guidelines, such as rest, recovery and improvement from one workout to the next, and that's where we often fail. "We do agree that it's all made up. But the moves can be made from many points of view."

He gives the example of an iron. You don't need material. "But if you do that plank on an unstable surface, and instead of being a Bosu like you were years ago, you get on a skateboard like this, the challenge will be greater, it will move you forward, it will have fun and it will take you away from your comfort zone."

That is why he believes in the balance of good professionals, innovative equipment and the playful component of training. Whether yoga, a mobility routine, or ballet are going to work on flexibility from different perspectives, all of them different but that contribute, she says. "We are human beings, we get tired of always doing the same thing and when faced with a job that requires effort we get bored quickly. Just as one coach or another has nothing to do with each other, the fact that your session today is never repeated because it will always be different is more interesting. And that's what we try to do. We are a health and sports centre, not a gym. We want to treat people holistically at any stage of their life, whether it's pregnancy, menopause, injuries, diseases such as cancer... There is a space for the initial interview and, from there, we adapt to their needs."

We predict that the exclusive of the "torture apparatus," as Dyaz has jokingly called it, will be short-lived. "I don't know how long I'll be the only one who has it and I don't mind if they copy it and take it to other centers. If they can do it without a problem, we're doing well." There are already 38 in the team and the schedules are full.

  • HBPR
  • Fitness