How to find balance: choosing a balancing disc

If you’re tired of regular interval training, there is a way to get a drive from the usual exercises: just add a balancing disk to push-ups and a plank. It will be difficult for you, especially at first: you will need to keep your balance so as not to simply fall, you will spend more energy — muscles will work, the existence of which you may not even have thought about.

In the home arsenal of fitness equipment, soft balancing disks made of rubber, hard balancing disks (with a rigid platform made of plastic or wood) and balance boards are possible. The latter require real skill from the athlete: the platform and the cylinder of the balance board are not connected mechanically in any way, they are two unstable objects instead of one.

What are the benefits of training on a balancing disk or balance board

The simplest balance exercises can be done without equipment, with your own weight: for example, press your knee to your chest and stand on your leg for thirty seconds, then repeat with the other leg. But the disc is still worth getting: it adds complexity to balancing work, to very high levels, and adds variety to your fitness routine.

Balance exercises are useful for athletes: when you maintain balance, all leg muscles, including small and deep ones, are included in the work, stabilizing muscles and core muscles work — thanks to this, regular exercises improve posture; live unstable load helps to develop the vestibular apparatus and reaction.

What exercises can be done on a rigid balancing platform (not a balance board!)

— Squats: both feet on the board; for advanced users — squats on one leg, the other in the air.

— Lunges: front foot on the board, back foot motionless on the floor; raise and lower your pelvis and hips.

— Lifting the hips from a prone position (half-bridge), both legs on the platform.

— Push-ups: both hands on the platform, feet on the floor.

— Different options for the bar: regular, side (one arm with the elbow on the platform), with leg or pelvis lifts.

What exercises to do on a soft balancing pillow

The same as on a non-rigid platform, plus more risky ones: you can add a jump on the floor or on the pillow itself to squats (carefully!), And make the lunge dynamic; the active leg can still be carried forward, bending at the knee.

What exercises to do on a balance board

Working with a balance board is the most risky and difficult; if you can squat with both feet on it, or do a plank, you’re awesome!

Do you have a balance disc or balance board at home? What exercises do you do with them?