DAPHNE, Ala. — A Daphne man has taken fitness to a whole new level of fun by redesigning a NASA invention to optimize health and therapeutic benefits. The human gyroscope has caused such a stir, it was featured Monday on “The Doctors,” a nationally syndicated program.

Don Prosch, re-inventor of the gyroscope — three rings on a steel frame where a person is secured inside the rings and experiences a simulation of anti-gravity through movement and inversion — and owner of GyroGym Fitness and Training, traveled to Paramount Studios in Los Angeles for a March 26 taping of the medical show.

“A research team found us for the tag of Best New Trends in Health,” he said.

David Sperber, senior manager of publicity for "The Doctors," said the show choose Prosch's gyroscope because it was looking for new trends in fitness.

"It's interesting and new—it's just the uniqueness of it," Sperber said. "Our doctors are not afraid to try new things because the show should be fun and informative."

The segment featured a demonstration of the GyroGym by Dr. Travis Stork, an ER physician and one of the show’s co-hosts, while Prosch secured the device.

The studio audience applauded as Stork’s body movements caused the machine to spin him around, mostly upside down.

“The thing about it is you can use your body to control how fast you’re moving,” Stork said, while secured in the GyroGym. “I’m really feeling it  … in my arms and my core.”

Dr. Jim Sears, a pediatrician, and co-host, cracked, “Are you feeling your breakfast coming up a little bit?” to which Stork replied no, and explained other benefits.

“It is a total body workout. … and what’s cool is it uses gravity and space to help you change (positions) constantly. They say it can help with your back pain, improve your balance, coordination, posture — and I can tell ya right now it does reduce stress.”

“It’s a universal health trainer that impacts athletic development and therapeutic benefits; it helps with a wide range of things like ADHD, autism and chronic low-back pain,” Prosch said to a Daphne Bulletin reporter.

He said the first response is that the device is fun, but often the second response is the “therapeutic and feel-good response.”

The machine was originally used to train astronauts, but Prosch developed an idea for additional hand grips to enable further body movement, resulting in more health benefits by working different muscle groups, he said.

He also helped redesign a children’s model so those less than 5 feet tall could enjoy the device.

While the main focus is on health and fitness, Prosch also takes the gyroscope to events where children and adults can have fun flipping and turning in the air.

This weekend, Don Prosch and the GyroGym will be at Arts Alive! art festival in downtown Mobile’s Cathedral Square.

Event hours are Friday, 5 to 9:30 p.m.; Saturday, 2 to 9 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 6 p.m.

Admission to the entire festival is free.

-—

Miss Monday's show? Check it out in "Featured Videos" at www.thedoctorstv.com.