Browse > Home / Other / BOSU Exercises

BOSU Exercises

April 4, 2008

BOSU Balance Trainer 
David Weck from San Diego invented the BOSU in 1999 to Olympic trainers and NHL strength and conditioning coaches.  It integrates balance exercises into traditional training routines that have shown great results.

He believes, balance is the foundation of ALL movement.  Everything we do involves balance. Firm control of your abdominal muscles is key to your balance and posture.  When we were young we were given the gift of strength and balance, it is a natural state. But they must be used on a consistent basis to be maintained or improved.  The more we age the more we tend to lose neuromuscular strength and balance through inactivity.
To train balance, our center of gravity must be challenged to more outside our stable base.  In other words, it takes instability to become more stable.  Also we must be given sudden or quick movements to train our reflexes. Every muscle is always switched on working to either maintain stability or mobility.   This is where the BOSU is outstanding, all students can benefit.
Using the BOSU develops balance, coordination and stability, generates power from the core center, increases agility, reaction skills and delivers serious results in fun ways.  The skills learned on the BOSU carries over into everything that we do in our lives.  It has a synergistic effect with the end result being effective in static stabilizing and dynamic balance.  It develops the abdominals like no other piece of equipment and it’s safe and easy.
The body uses the “kinetic chain”, kinetic meaning motion and chain meaning the body’s ability to link motion at the joints.  You will notice this immensely as you acclimate to the BOSU.

You also use proprioceptive challenges using the inner ear or vestibular overload and visual overload.

Proprioception is an automatic sensitivity mechanism in the body that sends messages through the central nervous system.  Those messages relay positional information to our brains and our brains then analyze this information and provide us with a sense of body orientation and movement.    Example:  with our eyes closed, we have a sense of where our body is in space, where our arms and legs are and that we are moving them.  Muscles, tendons, joints and the inner ear have proprioceptors.
BOSU guidelines:

  1. Inflate the BOSU to a firm level.  Follow instructions on the BOSU
  2. Place BOSU on level surface.  Carpet or flooring is fine.
  3. Wear athletic shoes
  4. Have plenty of space around you.
  5. Practice getting on and off the BOSU safely.
  6. Workout at appropriate level for you.
  7. Modify when appropriate.
  8. Have a towel handy, for slippery surface may occur.
  9. Challenge your balance, but know your limits.

Websites: 

  • BOSU.com
  • Power-systems.com
  • Turnstep.com

                       

DVD’s:

BOSU Pro Series: 

  • Bosu Ractive
  • Strength and Power
  • Bosu Cardio Fusion
  • Bosu Total Sports Conditioning
  • Bosu Core Synergy
  • Bosu Equilibrium
  • Bosu Total Body Workout

Stott Pilates:
          

  • Intermediate BOSU
  • Essential BOSU

Warm-up is to acclimate the individual on the BOSU’s dynamic surface.

  1. Basic moves:    Step-ups —-  up up down down 
  • Compressions—walking/jogging on top.
  • Walk-overs
  • Squats
  • Double bounce
  • Jump- sticks
  • Step knee ups
  • T-step
  • On top, rocking back and forth on feet.
  • Pelvis tucks
  • Mogul jumps
  • Ear tilts, head turns
  • Side lunges, back lunges.
  • Proprioceptive challenges:  close eyes, tracking
  • Stretches that include the feet.                  

                 
REMEMBER THE GOAL IS TO CHALLENGE YOUR BALANCE TO THE MAX
Exercises:

Prone:  

  1. Hips, pelvis, ribs balance on top in Spinal Extension w/variations: 
  2. Hands under forehead
  3. Legs/feet down
  4. Add one leg lift
  5. Add both legs
  6. Add arms in Airplane Balance
  7. Bring arms back to hips
  8. Bring arms overhead
  9. Alternate foot/hand touch

2. Spinal Extension with rotation

a.        Add opposite leg lifts.

Elbow Plank—On knees or full straight leg extension.
One-arm elbow plank—Add one leg lift for more difficult.

Supine:

1.      Curls/crunches—hands behind head, scapular retraction, full ROM, focus ribcage down to hips.
2.      Streamline—feet together, one leg extends, both arms overhead.
3.      Curl with rotation—do not involve shoulder girdle, focus on bottom ribcage.
4.      Bicycle—elbows touch the floor
5.      Anterior Tilts—lumbar spine on top, legs in table top, lift up to posterior tilt, curl against load of legs.
6.      Draw knees in—curl and balance
7.      Curl and tilt
8.      Curl and lift one leg extension hold.
9.      Supine full extension—arms overhead, one leg up, reach and release.  You can do all of the above in Supine-Incline position. 
 

Side-lying:

1.      Side Plank—elbow on top of Bosu, slowly raise hips off the floor, knees down or straight extended legs.
2.      Lateral crunches—extend legs, cross arms over chest.
3.      Reach and Stretch—lift
4.      Add pull lift and open arms 5.      Leg lifts—top leg lifts and lowers 
 

Bridge:

1.      Hips up—feet shoulder width apart, shoulders and head on top, hold
2.      Hips lift up and down—hands at lower back for a spinal extension.
3.      Hips over 12” to one side of Bosu—level shoulders, open arms, palms up, stable pelvis, inside leg extends out.
4.      One-legged bridge.5.      Bridging can be done on flip side of Bosu, or your body on the floor, feet on top.
6.   Fly Exchange—push up weights as you bridge up, open to a fly, close and lower. 
 

Standing:

1.      Squats—strong shoulder girdle, strong core stabilizers.
2.      Squat, rotate, back and up.
3.      Add tracking of the hand for more proprioceptive.
4.      Squat, rotate, back, lift side-out. 5.      Proprioceptive tracking 
 

Kneeling:

1.      Kneeling balance— one knee down, arms should be wherever you can balance.
2.      Kneeling balance—both arms touch outside of knees.
3.      Add visual and vestibular overload—circle arms around, touch ankles.
4.      Pilates hundreds5.      Right knee down, hands down on floor, one leg extends, bring knee to chest, extend, reach back touch shoe.
6.      Right knee down, left leg lifts,  one hand down on floor, reach and extend opposite arm. 
 

Sitting:

1.      V-sit—keep lumbar spine neutral, hands down on Bosu.
2.      Add one-legged switch
3.      Add extended arms
4.      Pause at the top then switch. 5.      Full V-sit or one-legged V-sit
6.      Rotation—upper and lower body separation.
7.      Bicycle—extend legs straight, rotate body
8.      Add bicycle legs.
9.      Supine balance—elbows on the floor behind Bosu, hips on top of bosu, bend knees into chest, extend and lower.
10.   Release into a full supine balance. 
 

Upside down BOSU:

1.      Plank
2.      Add one-leg lift.
3.      Add one leg lift, side, back, knee in, cross over, in, out and down.
4.      Knee in and out. 5.      Leg pulls.
6.      Push-ups—pectorals
7.      Push-ups—triceps
8.      Shoulder stabilization tilts
9.      Hamstrings tilts 
 

Stretches:

  1. Up dog
  2. Child’s pose—can round lumbar region.
  3. Star Pose      
  4. Seated Twists
  5. Runner’s stretch on top
  6. One-let extension
  7. All Fours—anterior and posterior tilts, with arms down and one extended.
Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Netvouz
  • De.lirio.us
  • Fark
  • Furl
  • Netscape
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • Spurl
  • StumbleUpon
  • Taggly
  • Technorati
  • YahooMyWeb

Written by admin · Filed Under Other 

Related Posts
Aging Gracefully While Doing Pilates
Those of you older folks who LOVE Pilates but have some common conditions such as hypertension, heart disease, and arthritis should remember that the ...
Great Balance Exercise That Increase Strength
There is an extremely important and basic skill required to maintain equilibrium, keep our body in an upright position and to be able to move and that...
Try Functional Fitness
Fastest growing classes these days are Yoga, Stability Ball and Balance Board / BOSU classes.  These classes provide toys or equipment that integra...
Yoga Exercises
I am constantly reading books and articles on yoga exercises or what we call yoga poses.  It is like an obsession with me, I just love it so much!  ...
Pilates And Body Control
At first I thought Pilates wasn't very difficult due to the number of reps that was recommended, HOWEVER, Pilates was founded on the principle of cont...
7 Most Effective Exercises
Here is a list of the 7 most effective exercises for making the most out of your time! Walking Interval Training Squats Lunges Pushups Ab ...

Comments

Got something to say?





*
To prove you're a person (not a spam script), type the security word shown in the picture.
Anti-Spam Image