WRITTEN BY BY RICHARD SEVEN PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOHN LOK

At Green Lake, chiropractor and triathlete coach Michael Ross, left, leads "neuro-balancing" classes aimed at strengthening the body core through a series of awkward movements that train the brain along with the muscles.

This summer, on a patch of grass nestled between softball fields, tennis courts and a running track, Ross led a series of classes on what he calls "neurological balancing." Ten to 12 men and women gathered in a circle and performed a series of odd, often one-legged and always difficult maneuvers while clutching weight balls.

Ross ran around, urging exacting form and spot emphasis so participants would build core parts while working well out of their comfort zones. It looked grueling and difficult, but he kept it as light-hearted as possible, flipping corny jokes and blasting '80s music from his boom box.

Ross, 37, is a Marine, Gulf War veteran, Seattle firefighter, chiropractor, triathlon coach and freethinker. Some of the people taking his classes are former patients, some are triathletes and some are both. He decided to offer the classes because they are similar to the exercises he instructs his patients to do.
 

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Nearly all the exercises in the hour-long classes accentuated strengthening the core: glutes and hips and low back. A lot of the movements alternate between deep bending, strengthening and explosive movements. He uses the informal term neuro-balancing because he believes you can strengthen the muscle-brain connection and body awareness through training.

"I challenge them with awkward, unsteady, unbalanced movements so they will have no problem with everyday movement," he says. "On a 1-to-10 scale, I have them to 11s so they can do the 6s of their daily life. And it's good for triathlon and ironman competitions because you're susceptible to injuries when your system is fatigued and the smaller muscles break down."

One drill has each student holding a ball with both arms outstretched, turning to the right or the left and lunging to one knee. Occasionally, the students will pair up and form two lines. Then the group side-squats down the field, creeping along like a giant centipede while tossing the balls.

Near the end of each session, Ross has them hustling through various exercise stations. One involves pulling a rope attached to a weight. Another is a shot-put motion. Yet another involves hopping over a low-slung rope. Sometimes, he has participants hop or lunge up bleachers.

Laura Malkasian was a back patient of Ross' but is also a triathlete. She says what they do is essentially a core workout, with emphasis on strength and balance training. But as hard as the drills are, it is the bleacher work she dreads.

If the workout is unusual, so is Ross' belief about stretching. None of the participants stretch, and he is not convinced of its value. In fact, he thinks the back should be rigid, serving as a fulcrum and moving like a golf club with the aid of well-developed muscles.

He knows this puts him at odds with most professionals and generally accepted wisdom. In fact, he refers to his West Seattle business as "the anti-stretching clinic" and cites several studies he says bear out his belief.

"I know I'm going 180 degrees from the normal advice, but I still haven't seen the proof that the things so many believe work actually do. If they did, why is lower back pain still so prevalent?"

Richard Seven is a Pacific Northwest magazine staff writer. He can be reached at rseven@seattletimes.com. John Lok is a Seattle Times staff photographer.

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