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“A WORKOUT THAT CORRECTS THE HIDDEN PARTS OF BIPOLAR DISORDER” BY DR GREGORY LOMBARDO

GREG LOMBARDO, MD, PH.D. is a child psychiatrist in private practice in Manhattan and Westchester county. He is board certified in adult, child and adolescent psychiatry and is a diplomate of the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology.

Gregory Lombardo is the author of the book titled “Understanding the Mind of your Bipolar Child”

http://understandingthemindofyourbipolarchild.com/

New York, April 26, 2008

The more I work with bipolar children the more I see difficulties which some of them face that have nothing to do with mood or behavior but profoundly influence both.

Bipolar disorder is a condition affecting the entire brain and most importantly the coordination of different parts of the brain.

-Alternating moods are thought to be caused by poor integration of left and right hemispheres.

-Problems with reading and handwriting have to do with poor integration of left and right visual motor activity.

-Problems with peers can be aggravated by problems participating in activities other kids do without effort, activities requiring coordination and focus: baseball, basketball. (Such difficulties can subtly affect a child’s interest in such activities well before they realize they are an important way of joining a peer group)

These fundamentally neurological problems are not captured in current descriptions of bipolar disorder, and they are not remedied by competent use of psychotherapy.

A NEW FORM OF PHYSICAL EXERCISE HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT WORKS TO TREAT THESE PROBLEMS

The program is called “The Brain Muscle Workout” This is a from of physical training that combines balance and coordination in the same movement maximizing brain activity at the time of performing challenging physical movements.

The program is designed to advance gradually so that a child imperceptible learns to perform more and more complex exercises.

As integration of movement and balance improve powers of concentration and attention improve as well. The body leads the mind toward better coordination, focus and ability to attend complex tasks.

Such resource is particularly valuable for children who cannot tolerate medicines used to treat ADD and for children whose awkwardness tends to isolate them from group activities. Children without these deficits also Benefit from this training but usually begin at and proceed to a higher level of accomplishment. However, the program is designed to focus on each child’s progress without comparison to other children.

 
The results that can be expected are:
1 Physical strength and endurance
2 Improved cardiovascular function and control of weight gain
3 Improvement in balance and coordination
4 An improvement in their perception of their body and their body related to space
5 An improvement in concentration and attention
6 An improvement in self-esteem and mood

 

A child needs to practice this program several times a week to gain benefits, making participation greater for the overscheduled child and parent. The program is also designed and taught with humor encouraging the child to have fun while obtaining mastery.

Children and Brain Development Our developing understanding of the brain includes two crucial findings that bear of the important of this work for school aged children:

-At younger ages the brain has greater plasticity, so that the new learning is both easier, more exactly learned, and is more likely to have enduring effects on a Childs future function

-During adolescence a pruning process occurs during which those parts of the brain that are not actively used are removed: what you don’t use you lose.

In my work-no matter what a child diagnosis accrued developmental problems such as relationships with peers, academia function, obesity and cardiovascular risk and deficits in self-esteem are much harder to treat than pathological status of mood and anxiety

Michael Gonzalez-Wallace, developer of The Brain Muscle Workout Program

Michael’s Bio

Michael Gonzalez-Wallace has founded the program “The Brain Muscle Workout”. He attended economics school in Madrid and earned a certification in sports medicine by the National Academy of Sports Medicine. He is in the process of implementing the program in New York City schools but teaches individuals and small groups privately.

I have been Michael’s student and I am impressed not only with subtlety of his teaching but also its patience and humor.

VIDEOS EXAMPLES

THE BRAIN MUSCLE WORKOUT FOR KIDS FROM CENTRAL PARK,

LEVEL 1 "THE OWL"

http://youtube.com/watch?v=lLhBL48uZ_g

THE BRAIN MUSCLE WORKOUT FOR KIDS,

LEVEL 2 FROM CENTRAL PARK, "THE HAWK"

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sHTCQR4M62Y

THE BRAIN MUSCLE WORKOUT FOR KIDS,

LEVEL 4 "THE OSTRICH"

http://youtube.com/watch?v=F88_LE8bUo0

THE BRAIN MUSCLE WORKOUT FOR KIDS FROM CENTRAL PARK, "THE FLAMINGO"

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sHTCQR4M62Y

THE BRAIN MUSCLE WORKOUT FOR KIDS,

LEVELS 1 AND 2 "THE OWL AND THE HAWK"

http://youtube.com/watch?v=v00Gu3wu2IY

THE BRAIN MUSCLE WORKOUT FOR KIDS FROM CENTRAL PARK,

LEVELS 3 AND 4 "THE EAGLE AND THE OSTRICH"

http://youtube.com/watch?v=riqSseTxgnk

This section has been reviewed by Dr GREG LOMBARDO, MD, PH.D. is a child psychiatrist in private practice in Manhattan and Westchester county. He is board certified in adult, child and adolescent psychiatry and is a diplomate of the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology. Gregory Lombardo is the author of the book titled “Understanding the Mind of your Bipolar Child” http://understandingthemindofyourbipolarchild.com/