Balance Board Exercises: Perfect for balance training

Sometimes it's not that easy to keep your balance. We need our balance for many everyday things! One more reason to train it.

A so-called balance board is helpful. This trains your sense of balance and trains your whole body at the same time. Never heard of it? Maybe you know it by one of its countless other names: wobble board, therapy top, balance board, wobble board, balance top,...

Without balance we would have great difficulties in everyday life. The sense of balance is significantly involved in many movement sequences and orientation. According to theAOKBalance training also improves the cooperation between nerves and muscles. The latter can react more quickly if we lose our balance. The risk of injury decreases.

In addition, balance training strengthens body awareness, muscles, motor skills and posture and has a positive effect on coordination and concentration.

The balance board is a piece of sports equipment that is primarily used to strengthen the sense of balance. It was originally used by physiotherapists and surfers but enjoys a growing fan base.

It consists of a board, usually round or in the shape of a surfboard, and a hemisphere or a roller. These components are placed on top of each other, creating an extremely wobbly construction. The goal is to stand safely on the balance board and perform exercises.

In this way you improve your balance, but at the same time you also train your muscles, especially the deep muscles. The muscles play a key role in ensuring that you can keep your balance and stay standing on the board. Every muscle, no matter how small, helps to stabilize your body.

By the way:The wobble board is not equipped with a balance dome (you can get it on Amazon*) to be confused. You can also train your balance with this, but you stand directly on the semicircular ball, not on a board.

Balancing uses the back, core, foot, stomach and leg muscles. These muscles have to work together to maintain balance.

The balance board can be helpful in training these muscles. The muscles in the legs are stressed by the sideways movements of the board, the stomach, back and spine ensure the necessary stability on the board. The deep muscles are also involved while balancing. We cannot tense this consciously, but it is activated by the imbalance.

Because many muscle groups work together - but can also be trained individually - the training is quite strenuous and burns a lot of calories. So you can even lose some weight!

Although the balance board was originally developed for surfing and physical therapy, it is suitable for all athletes who want to strengthen and stabilize their body. At the same time, the device is ideal for anyone who wants to improve their sense of balance and fitness. The operation is so simple that even beginners - and even children - should have no problems with the exercises.

At the same time, the wobble board is popular in physiotherapy. If you have suffered an injury, your resilience can be gently increased while healing using the balance board. New injuries are also prevented.

Exercise 1: Stay standing

Just stay standing on the board? Sounds simple, but it's not! So that you can carry out further exercises on your balance board, you first need a firm footing as a basis for the further workout.

1. Stand with your legs apart close to the sides of your board, keep your back straight and, if necessary, stabilize yourself against a wall or stair railing.

2. Then slowly try to let go of your hand and keep your balance. The edges of the board should not touch the ground. Let your hips relax so it's easier to balance yourself. Breathe in and out deeply.

3. Depending on how comfortable you feel on the board, you can now close your eyes. Do you even dare to lift a leg or move your arms over your head?

Exercise 2: Surfing

Want to be as casual as surfers, but without salt water in your nose? You can have it: With the help of the wobble board you can remotely imitate the movements of water sports enthusiasts and at the same time train your whole body while having a lot of fun.

1. Stand on your balance board with your legs apart and hold it in a horizontal position. Your legs shouldn't be too close together, otherwise you'll quickly lose your balance. As soon as you are no longer swaying, start consciously shifting your weight to the left and right.

2. Legs and hips remain relaxed. Don't let your board touch the ground! If you find the exercise difficult at the beginning, you can pause briefly after each rocking session to regain your balance or support yourself with your arm on a wall.

3. If the position works well, you can continue straight away without taking a break. Try to do the exercise 10 times in a row. Don’t forget to breathe.

Exercise 3: Squats

We all know squats from “normal” training. However, when the ground sways, things get a little more exciting. Squats on the wobble board are great for training your calves, thighs, abs and butt.

1. Stand on your board with your legs apart and balance until it remains horizontal. Then squat in a controlled manner until your lower legs and thighs form an angle of approximately 90°.

2. The back remains stretched, the knees should not protrude beyond the tips of the feet. For more balance, you can use your arms as a counterweight or have a partner help you.

3. After a short moment, slowly stand up again from the position. The board does not touch the floor during the entire process. Repeat the exercise two or three times.

Exercise 5: Push-ups

Of course, we don't want to neglect the upper body in our training either. While you usually stand on your feet when balancing, you can also use the wobble board for arm and chest training.

1. Place the board on the floor in front of you and place your hands on the left and right, about shoulder-width apart on the board. Stretch your legs backwards. Then stand with your toes on the floor until you reach the classic push-up position.

3. Slowly lower your upper body towards the floor and then use your arms to push yourself back up. Keep your abdominal muscles tense and your back straight. You should neither sag nor stick your buttocks into the air.

3. If a full push-up doesn't work, you can also put your knees down. Because even if you can normally do a few push-ups, you will quickly notice that the additional balance required intensifies the exercise.

Exercise 5: Lunges

Lunges are ideal for the glutes and thigh muscles. The balance board increases the difficulty of the exercise because the supporting leg is not on the solid ground, but on the wobbly board.

1. Stand about two stride lengths away from the balance board. Then take a big step forward and place your front leg on the board. The knee is now at approximately a 90° angle.

2. Everything will feel a little wonky at this point. Be sure to find your balance before continuing the exercise. Support yourself if necessary.

3. Now lower your back leg slightly so that it hovers just above the ground. Then stand up again and repeat the movement. After a few passes, switch sides.